Pinch me, I must be dreaming
by zippizappi
Summary: The first week after Hanna and Caleb's reconciliation in 7x10, which was sadly skipped by starting 7x11 with a one-week time jump. A multi-chapter story. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1 - WEDNESDAY morning

_A few words in advance:_

 _I started this story in early May after three episodes of 7B had aired, obviously impatient to incorporate certain events into the story that hadn't_ occured _up until that point. In the meantime, PLL had caught up on some things and this story is now only partially canon with 7B. I hope you enjoy this gap-filler anyway._

 _Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I only borrowed them for fun._

 **XXXXX**

 **Chapter 1 – WEDNESDAY, morning  
**

Hanna sat in the passenger's seat of Caleb's car, trembling heavily. She just wanted to go home, cuddle up in her bed and try to forget what happened.

She'd been through a lot of scares and terrors in the years since A and A.D. had started to torment her and her friends. But seeing a decapitated skull roll sideways across the wooden floor at the blind school – that was a whole new level of horror. She couldn't prevent the image from creeping back into her mind.

And now – on top of it all – her close friend had been shot at and taken to the hospital in a critical condition. It was all a never-ending nightmare.

When Spencer had been taken care of properly, the doctors had sent them all home, each provided with business cards of people they could talk to about the traumatic events of the past hours, should the need arise.

There were cards from psychiatrists, pastors, other church community members. Hanna had thrown her stack in the next trash can, right outside the hospital. There was only one person in the world she wanted to see, let alone talk to right now. So she had called Caleb from the hospital, asking him if he could come and take her home. Her own car was still parked outside the blind school.

She felt slightly uncomfortable in her seat, knowing that she still hadn't told Caleb the truth behind everything. Rushing to meet the girls to make a confession about her whereabouts and what she had done to Noel Kahn, she had basically left Caleb alone without an explanation after they'd had great sex the night before, celebrating their reconciliation. Like it had been nothing more than a one-night stand.

 _God, she hoped he hadn't gotten the wrong impression._

She made a mental note to address the issue as soon as possible. Just to clear up the situation. No more unresolved issues between them, she swore to herself.

He had come to pick her up without accusations, without any questions. As they were driving back to Lucas' apartment, none of them dared to speak. Hanna didn't know how to broach the subject, and Caleb had gained his experience over the years never to push things with Hanna. She would talk to him when she was ready for it.

So they had driven in silence all the way up to the curb in front of Lucas' apartment, where Hanna was currently living. Caleb stopped the car and pulled the key from the ignition.

"Can I take you-"

"Would you mind taking me-", they both began simultaneously. For the first time in hours, Hanna's mouth formed a little smile as she acknowledged that after all this time, he could still read her so well.

"Of course. I wouldn't have let you be all by yourself after what happened last night anyway," he continued. "Come on, it's late. We should get you tucked in so you can catch some sleep."

Hanna checked her watch. It was past 3 AM. Her body was still so tense, she couldn't imagine she'd be able to sleep for the rest of the night. But Caleb was right. Maybe sleep would help her feel better in the morning.

They climbed out of the jeep and walked quietly up to her apartment where Hanna unlocked the door and closed it shut after Caleb had stepped inside, too. They both stood looking at each other.

A strange kind of awkwardness filled the room. The last time they'd been here together, they had ended up all over each other on the cozy shag right in front of Lucas' electric fireplace. It had felt unreal to be kissed and touched by Caleb again after she had been wanting it for so long. And now she wanted more than anything for him to hold her again so she could feel real in this horror movie that her life had turned into. But where were they now? Were they back together? Friends? Friends with benefits?

Caleb sensed the tension in the room, noticing how forlorn Hanna looked right this moment.

She had her arms crossed in front of her chest, trying to preserve her body temperature. She seemed insecure, smiling tentatively. He didn't know why she didn't just go about getting ready for bed. And most notably he couldn't tell if she expected him to stay or leave.

"So, where's Emily?" he asked and moved one step closer to her, deciding to test the waters.

"She's staying with Alison for now. She said something about helping her with a personal problem."

She looked so vulnerable right now. He just wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her for as long as she needed. Putting another foot forward, Caleb said: "Come here!" He held out his hand for her, and she willingly moved in his direction, thankful that he had taken the lead. She put her arms around his neck and sank into his embrace, breathing a sigh of relief.

Caleb held her in his arms and ran his hand soothingly over the small of her back. They stood like this for some time, and Hanna felt the tension slowly leave her body. He smelled fresh, like he had recently showered, which led Hanna to believe he must have had a cold shower to help him wake up when she had called him in the middle of the night and asked if he could pick her up from the hospital. She smiled inwardly and enjoyed being held by him.

All too soon, Caleb let her go. "You should go to sleep now."

Hanna's eyes locked with his, "Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone right now."

 _How could he not when she looked at him with those big blue eyes and her long waves of hair all ruffled… so imperfect… yet so beautiful._

"I'll stay as long as you want me to." He took her hand and she followed him to the bedroom. Hanna undressed herself standing next to the bed, having no inhibitions to show herself almost naked in front of Caleb. Then put on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. She was fully aware of his presence and set the boundaries by putting on her comfortable, not-sexy-at-all pajamas. She knew exactly what she wanted - even that he might want it just the same - but she realized that this wasn't the right time. She wouldn't be able to enjoy it the right way.

Caleb went to the bathroom, and Hanna lied down in the middle of the queen-size bed, leaving it to Caleb to decide which side of the bed he preferred. She pulled the covers up to her chin and came to rest lying on her side, hoping Caleb would get the notion. He returned a couple of minutes later, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and boxers.

She looked so tiny in that big bed. Like a little girl, put on bedrest with a fever.

Taking in the sight in front of him, he instantly knew where she wanted him to lie down. He surrounded the bed and got under the cover. Then he shuffled his body all the way to where she was lying and spooned her. When he had found the right angle closest to her body, he looped his right arm through the space between her pillow and shoulder, so she could put her head on it instead, and began stroking the length of her arm with his other hand. When he had reached her hand, he gave it a slight squeeze, then moved back up along her arm all the way to her shoulder. He repeated his ministrations and noticed how her body started to feel less stiff.

A sudden surge of warmth flooded Hanna's body. She no longer felt cold and finally allowed all of her bones and muscles to relax.

Hanna realized she never wanted to spend another night without him, for the rest of her life. In his arms, the world always seemed lighter and brighter. In his arms, she could finally forget her fears. The horrific images of Noel Kahn's head rolling down the stairs seemed to blur in her mind, pushed to the farthest corner of her memory and replaced by other images that resurfaced in her mind, stirred by Caleb's touches… soft hands roaming her naked body, pulling on her hair in a frenzy… his mouth exploring her body thoroughly… the heat emanating from the fireplace right next to them, jumping over to their united bodies… It had felt like their very first time all over again.

Hanna smiled and closed her eyes, feeling hopeful that now that Noel Kahn was dead, everything would go back to normal again. Tomorrow morning she would wake up next to Caleb; she was off to a good start. Thinking she could finally sleep now, she let the tiredness take over at last.

Suddenly she gasped for breath when Caleb's hand left her arm, moved lower and wound its way underneath her shirt, gently stroking the newly-discovered patches of naked skin on her stomach, all the way across to the underside of her breasts. He tucked his hand in between the mattress and her rib-cage and slowly moved it up along, stopping only when he could cup her breast entirely. When she didn't shake it off, he boldly decided to leave it there for the rest of the night, knowing she had always loved cuddling like this when they were dating.

Hanna opened her eyes, thinking hard whether she should turn around and give into his approaches. She held her breath and stirred slightly. When Caleb noticed her reaction, he broke the silence, "Shhhh, baby. Go to sleep now." He lifted his head and placed a gentle kiss on her temple. "Good night." His voice sounded sleepy, and so she let a new kind of contentment caused by his tight embrace sink in, surrendering to sleep at long last.

Hanna woke up at half-past nine the next morning. Even though she could hardly have slept more than 4 hours, she felt refreshed and ready to face the new day. She turned around, expecting to find Caleb still sound asleep next to her. But the other half of her bed was empty.

She flinched at the idea that Caleb pulled off the same smooth move like she had two days ago. Not being able to hide her disappointment, Hanna threw her head on the pillow, groaned loudly, and pulled the blanket up over her head.

She didn't notice that pair of feet which tiptoed into the room.

Caleb snuck to her side of the bed, pulled the blanket from her face, and said: "Good morning, beautiful".

Hanna shrieked the moment he uncovered her head. "You're still here", she said cheerfully, eyes wide open in astonishment.

"Sure, I am. Not everybody leaves without saying goodbye the morning after," he playfully reminded her.

"Yeah, about that –," she started off, but Caleb cut in, "Shh, tell me later, I'm starved. Let's have breakfast first. I got us some croissants and I made you coffee." He set the breakfast tray down and handed her a steaming cup, "Here. Careful, it's still very hot!" She beamed up at him. "Thanks, that's so sweet."

He sat down next to her and put the tray back down on his lap.

They both took their time eating the croissants. Hanna thought it was the right moment for her to come clean about the things she'd done to prove that Noel Kahn was A.D. Caleb listened quietly. He didn't judge her, instead offered words of understanding. Hanna felt a weight was taken off her shoulder. If she were given this second chance to build a relationship with Caleb, she wanted to make things right and for them to always be truthful to one another. There was simply no point in trying to keep him out of her troubles with A.D.

Eventually, Caleb set the tray aside and got up. "I hate to leave you now, but I gotta get to work, you know. I told your mom that I would come in later today, but now I really have to go." He looked at her and ultimately regretted what he'd said. She looked disappointed. Trying to come up with an excuse and then considering to call in sick for the very first time ever since he'd started working at the Radley, he noticed how her face changed. Hanna had put on her brave face. "I'll be fine, you just go ahead. I still have to pick up my car at the blind school. Then there's the police, you know, they still need my statement because I hadn't been able to give them one last night." She also got up from the bed and moved in his direction.

Caleb was torn, seeing her disheveled state, which he found so incredibly sexy, he didn't want to leave. But she assured him that she had a busy day ahead of her and that she could handle all the things on the agenda on her own or with a little support of her friends who were all in the same position.

He stopped short to pull her in for a hug, then kissed her goodbye. "I guess I'll see you later then. Maybe I could come by tonight and bring you dinner?"

"That sounds great." Hanna smiled at him and joined him on his way to the front door. As he opened the lock, she called him back, "Wait!" Then she stepped up to him and pulled his head down for another kiss. She put a little more pressure into the kiss and made it last longer, but didn't dare to take it to a deeper level because she knew that then he wouldn't show up for work at all today. And that just wasn't in Caleb Rivers' nature. She'd always admired his loyalty.

She knew their time would come. But at least for now she had made it clear to him that she was ready to rebuild their relationship. Things were progressing in the right direction, all they needed was just a little more time for themselves.

After Caleb had left her apartment, Hanna turned to go to the bathroom and decided to take a shower. She was really looking forward to her dinner with Caleb, and for the first time in months, she started her day singing loudly in the shower.

She stood under the hot stream of water – Lucas' water – for a long time, rinsing off thoroughly but also daydreaming giddily about the things she and Caleb could do after dinner tonight.

Then she grabbed a towel and started drying herself off. Eventually, Hanna put on her makeup, got dressed and called a cab to take her to the blind school, all the while carrying a silly grin on her face.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _So, seriously... On a scale from 1 to 10, how rude was that? Presenting 7B to us with a one-week time jump when Haleb have only just now gotten back together? The show's writers deprived us of catching a glimpse of their giddy "we're-back-in-love-all-over-each-other-all-the-time" phase.  
_

 _And now, lo and behold, my fantasy went a little overboard trying to come up with a multi-chapter story to fill the gap between the blind school incident in 7x10 and Hanna pinching Caleb at the beginning of 7x11._

 _Consider yourself warned... Because these two are literally all over each other, like, all the time (well, almost)... Aaaaah, to be young and newly enamored again... I envy you, Haleb! ;-)_

 _Please leave a review when you're finished reading. I'd appreciate it so much! And let me know if you want me to continue.  
_

 _Thank you for reading! :-) Zip_


	2. Chapter 2 - WEDNESDAY afternoon

**Chapter 2 - WEDNESDAY afternoon**

Hanna returned to her apartment late in the afternoon. She had been able to check everything off her to-do list, and now she wanted nothing more than taking a hot shower to wash off the guilt she still felt about making a false statement to the police about the Kahn incident. It wasn't really false… Rather incomplete, she tried to mollify her conscience.

When she emerged from the shower, she felt better. She was counting down the hours until she would see Caleb again. He had sent various texts throughout the day, checking in on her every so often. The thought of spending the evening with him made a whole army of butterflies erupt in her stomach. She hadn't felt like this in years… giddy… like a teenager with a first serious crush on the boy next door…

She opened up her closet, trying to decide on an outfit to wear for dinner tonight. Opting for "casual-yet-sexy", she pulled her skinny dark-blue jeans from the rack and moved over to the shirt compartment.

Suddenly, a well-known buzz filled the silence of the room when her cell phone vibrated on the night table, telling her she'd received another text. Hoping to read from Caleb again, she rushed over to her phone.

The text did come from Caleb. He had taken the time to send her one word. But that one word did the deed and painted a huge smile on Hanna's face. The text read: _Thai?_

Letting her fingers slide across the display, she hurriedly typed her reply: _I'm in!_

She sighed. Thai food. The thought alone stirred a memory deep within her heart: They had spent their very first spring break vacation together in Thailand the year after Hanna had started college in New York. Back then they had decided that one day they would go there again together, maybe for their honeymoon... _  
_

She startled out of her daydream and set the phone aside. Then she returned to her closet. She checked the clock on the night table and figured, she still had at least two hours until Caleb would show up on her doorstep with her favorite take-out food.

Ten minutes and three sweaters later, Hanna finally settled for a black crop top and a black see-through blouse over it. She checked herself in the mirror. _Perfect_!

Before she could reapply her makeup, she was startled by a knock on her door. Hanna looked at her alarm clock again.

5:08 PM.

Who was this? She mentally crossed Caleb off her list of possible visitors at this hour of the day, also her friends since none of them had called to announce they'd drop by later today. And so she was left to find out by answering the door at last.

When she reached it, she noticed that her hair was still damp and clinging to her face. She quickly combed through her mane using her fingers and tied it together in a messy knot. Then she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Hi!" A familiar set of brown eyes appeared in the doorframe.

Her eyes gave away her surprised reaction. A friendly face grinned down at her.

"Caleb? You're early!" She instinctively put her hand in her hair, trying to ease the mess.

"I'm right on time for this." He held up two grocery bags in both of his hands and strolled inside. "I thought we could cook dinner ourselves for a change."

"Um, yeah, sure. Haven't done that in a while, but, yeah, why not?" She smiled, somewhat flattered by his desire to spend even more time with her. "Let me just finish my hair and makeup and I'll be right back." She turned around and headed for her bathroom.

"Hanna, you don't have to put on makeup. You look beautiful just as you are" Caleb called after her, causing her cheeks to take on a reddish hue. She stalled and turned back around. Caleb chuckled about her sudden embarrassment.

"So, what are we having?" Hanna inquired.

"How about Gaeng Massaman Gai?"

Hanna burst out laughing. "Okay, it sounds funny, but what is it?"

Caleb explained "It's a kind of chicken curry, not that spicy. Trust me, you're gonna love it. When I was living in D.C. I practically lived off this dish. There was a Thai restaurant right underneath my apartment."

"And who taught you to cook this?" Hanna wanted to know more about Caleb. After having spent three years apart she came across something new about him every day.

"I was friends with their chef", he winked at her. "I called him today, and he had a minute to spare, so he sent me his recipe."

Something didn't fit right in his story, Hanna thought. So she looked at him questioningly and asked: "Okay. And who did the shopping for you? You sent me that text only, like, 15 minutes ago."

Caleb chuckled. "Whoa, what's with the inquisition?" But seeing the concerned look on her face he cleared up the mystery. "Look, I knew you wouldn't say no to Thai food so I went grocery shopping during my lunch break. Do you want me to call D.C. and have Rukeo confirm my story?"

Hanna felt slightly embarrassed about her mistrust in him. She moved closer to Caleb and apologetically patted his arm. "No! Sorry. But when it comes to surprises, I've learned it's not always something good, so I start questioning things."

Caleb immediately soothed her: "I promise this is something good. Actually I'm planning on making this the best cooking date ever."

With the grocery bags still in his hands he closed in on Hanna's face and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

Then he strolled over to the kitchen, put the required groceries on the countertop and started washing his hands.

Hanna followed him and read the recipe. Then they divided up the tasks between them. Hanna even found a wok in one of Lucas' kitchen cupboards.

As they prepared the ingredients and put them in the wok, both kept talking, catching up on each other's lives during the past three years. They were finally reconnecting on a deeper level, reassuring both that it hadn't been only physical attraction that had led to their passionate night by the fireplace.

As much as Hanna enjoyed spending time with Caleb in the kitchen, seeing as how skillfully he had been chopping up onions and carving the tiniest dice out of garlic for lack of a proper garlic crusher in Lucas' kitchen, she might as well have gone without eating for the rest of the evening if she could only feel his neat and soft hands all over her body again.

So she tried to steer their friendly chatter into a different direction, sending him all these little signals… accidentally bumping into him when she needed to move around in the kitchen… accidentally brushing up against his hand when she wiped the countertop… laughing at his little stories about the Thai chef.

But Caleb didn't seem to notice her little approaches as he kept on stirring the curry in the wok, occasionally looking up to smile at her.

She had been thinking about her feelings for him all day. At some point she had missed him so much, feeling so incomplete without him that it had caused her actual physical pain. That's when she knew for sure that she still loved him with all her heart!

It was just like she had told him a couple of months ago, when the prospect of facing A. in a run-down hotel room had driven her to a confession, telling Caleb that she never stopped loving him, even after he walked out of her life three years ago and cut her off entirely by leaving his phone behind and thus robbing her of every chance to ever contact him again.

It had taken her so long to get over him and move on with her life. Yet she had never been able to forget him. After all, he was her first love and the first guy she ever slept with. She belonged to him and there was no way, she'd ever feel this way about another man again.

Hanna must have drifted off into a daydream when she heard Caleb call her name.

"Hanna?"

"What?" She shot him a questioning look.

"Dinner's ready." Caleb chuckled.

 **XXXXX**

An hour and a half later, they had eaten their food and were almost done cleaning the kitchen. He had been right, the curry was fantastic.

When Caleb stood at the sink, rinsing the last plate, Hanna approached him from behind, putting her arms around his waist and resting her head against his back. No more mixed signals... It was time to let her actions speak.

"I had a great time with you today." She mumbled into his shirt.

Caleb grabbed a dish towel and dried off his hands. Then, with her arms still wrapped around him, he turned around to see her face. Hanna looked up at him, anticipation mirrored in her eyes… mixed with… passion.

Wrapping his own arm around her, he raised the other and gently cupped her face with his hand.

"I had a great time with you, too." He paused for just a second and added: "I forgot how great we used to work together in the kitchen."

Hanna inhaled sharply "Or elsewhere."

They looked each other deeply in the eyes, standing like this for a long moment. Eventually, they both leaned in, closed their eyes and let their lips meet in a feather-light kiss, followed by a longer, more passionate kiss. As Caleb pulled her closer to his body, he let his tongue trace the fine contours of her delicately soft lips. They still tasted spicy, but it was nothing compared to the heat that arose deep inside his body. His tongue met hers, teased her and then he took over the kiss, increasing the pressure.

Eventually, they broke their kiss, both panting heavily and looking at each other with glazed eyes.

Hanna felt dizzy, blaming either the two glasses of white wine she had downed with him during their dinner or the mind-shattering kiss she just shared with him. Or both? Did he put some weird condiment into their food? He had brought so many of them, half of which she had never even heard of…

Caleb's eyes had darkened, displaying his desire to continue the journey they had started just now. He wanted to feel more of her, see more of her.

"Bed! Now!" He whispered huskily into her ear and grabbed her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers

A strangled "'kay" was all she was able to speak before his lips came crashing down on hers again. Hands started to roam, trying to get in touch with each other's skin.

Caleb set his body in motion, keeping them both pressed tightly together and dragging Hanna with him. She willingly let him take the lead and followed his steps, as he headed for the bedroom.

About half way through the living-room he changed his mind, stopping at the edge of the large couch. He loosened his grip on her and brought his arms to her front, scrambling to unbutton her blouse, all the while continuing their kiss.

Desperate to get rid of the unnecessary piece of clothing, Hanna eventually broke the kiss and helped him with the last buttons. Then she shoved both sleeves off her shoulder and instantly grabbed the hem of his dark-grey sweatshirt, pulling it over his head.

As soon as their hands were free again, Caleb tipped them both over onto the couch. He held her tight, afraid the momentum of his weight on her might cause her to roll off the couch. Then he kissed her again. Their arms and legs intertwined as they shifted to a more comfortable position. His leg slipped between hers and Hanna groaned when his movements turned rhythmic.

Keeping her from falling down with one hand, he let his other hand stole across her body. He tested the gentle curve of her hip, then let it wander lower to squeeze her perfectly shaped butt, and then moved higher, across her waist, slipping underneath her crop top to gain access to her naked shoulder.

She was so small, so beautiful, so soft. He could lose himself forever in her softness. His hand moved back down and to her front, testing her reaction as he slowly covered her breast with his palm over the fabric of her lacy bra. She arched eagerly into his touch. He cupped her more fully and squeezed gently, causing her peaks to stiffen. A low whimper emanated from Hanna's body, combined with heavy punctuated breathing.

Embraced by his arms, Hanna started to move her body more rhythmically against the hardened ridge of his erection.

His head dropped to her shoulder and he shuddered. He turned it slightly to press a light kiss on her neck, lingering over that spot a little longer as he breathed in the sweet scent of her. Beneath him he could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his as she gasped and clutched at his shoulders, grasping for hold on his naked upper body.

Hanna shifted, pushing up against him so that he rolled onto his back and she came to a kneeling position. She hesitated and then pulled at the hem of her top, lifting it over her head and tossing it in the direction of the pile of clothing they had already shed.

For a moment, Caleb lay absolutely still, his eyes drinking her in. Then he lifted himself and helped her take off her bra as well.

Hanna caught her breath as it fell away, leaving her breasts exposed. She felt the warm sensation of his breath on her skin just before his lips brushed across one of her tense nipples. She let go the breath she had been holding, closing her eyes to give in to the sensation of just feeling him.

He slowly fell back, supporting his upper body on his elbows instead of lying down flat.

She reached out to touch him, her hand falling in a soft caress along his ribs. Hanna bent her head down, searching for his mouth, and kissed him, letting her hand drift lower, over the plane of his stomach, until it was resting on his thigh.

Once they were both breathless, she kissed along the long sinuous line of his throat, exposed as he let his head drop back.

Caleb's hands slid to her waist and he urged her higher until her breasts were level with his lips. His mouth closed over her left nipple, sucking softly as she let out a hard moan and clutched his head.

"You like that, don't you?" The vibration of his low voice on her skin flashed across her body like a ripple of heat.

"Mmm." Hanna couldn't even answer coherently. All her muscles seemed to have loosened and melted, leaving her clinging to his shoulders for support. His mouth moved to her other breast and she felt the slick hot slide of his tongue across her nipple.

She let out a little gasp at how warm and silky his skin was against hers. His hand swept lightly down her back to rest in the hollow at the base of her spine. Then he grabbed her waist, pulling her along until she could reposition her leg and straddle him.

His hips rose to get in touch with her where her hands were currently neglecting him.

Finally, her hand stilled on his erection and he made a muffled groan. His hand fumbled at the button on her pants and then he groaned. "You better do this. If you let me do it, they might not be in one piece for very long."

They both got up and squirmed out of their pants. He was faster and she felt the tug as he pulled them away from her legs for her. Then they laid back down, and he was above her, his knee urging her legs apart. He rested his weight on one elbow as his other hand stroked carefully between her thighs.

Hanna tipped her head back and gasped, raising her hips to increase the pressure of his touch. She was so ready, so wet, that it was torture to keep waiting. "No more foreplay," she moaned. Hanna could feel the slide of his skin against her inner thighs as he settled into place.

A few frantic heartbeats later she felt his erection against her opening. Caleb pushed inside and she felt the sweet pressure and stretch as he filled her. He rocked his hips, working in deeper and deeper until the only sensation she knew was him.

Caleb shifted his weight onto his elbows, dipping his hips into her in measured strokes. He pressed a little harder, a little deeper, and she tipped her head back and gasped.

After a few more thrusts he let out his own gasp. He was all the way in now. The sensation was so sweet and perfect that he shortened the length of his thrusts, wanting to feel it sooner.

Hanna was left breathless as he drove into her faster. The urgency of his movements only seemed to increase her need for him. She reached above her head, gripping the edge of the couch cushion to try and brace against the steady, relentless cadence of his body on hers.

Hanna could feel the tension in his body as he strained to push both of them over the edge. She lifted her hips into the rock and surge of his body and matched his rhythm.

Caleb shuddered as her knees tightened on his ribs. His hand moved to cup her butt, lifting her more fully against him.

The first wave caught Hanna unawares, bowing her spine and sparking across her consciousness. She writhed beneath him, greedy for the bliss she knew he could give her. Caleb didn't break his rhythm, continuing the same deep drives into her. She distantly heard her own wail before the world dissolved around her.

Hanna was clenching and rippling around him and Caleb lost all restraint, giving in completely to the sensation of her. He lifted her body against his for even more friction. He came in spurts of ecstasy so sharp it was almost too much, his hips moving reflexively to try and make it last.

His entire body trembled as they sank back onto the couch. Caleb slid to lay next to her, gathering her close against him, unwilling and unable to be completely parted from her. For several minutes neither of them spoke. They locked eyes, holding a steady gaze of wonderment and admiration. Their breathing slowly evened out.

Hanna shivered despite being so close to him and Caleb murmured, "Are you warm enough?"

"Not anymore." She replied sleepily against his chest. He reluctantly got up and went to pick up one of the covers from the bedroom, not wanting her to rise from her comfortable position, all curled up and ready to sleep.

As he strolled back into the living-room and Hanna came into his view, he hesitated, taking her sight in, memorizing it for the next hours of the night in which he wouldn't be able to actually see her.

An infinitesimal part of him was disappointed that she was so tired already, it wasn't that late yet. They could have snuggled up under the covers and watch a movie on TV… or talk about their plans for the future… or try out a new position, maybe in bed for a change.

But he figured the mental strain of the past days added to their exertions from just a few minutes ago took their toll.

Outside in the real world, the sun was just about to set. Its orange glow was gleaming through the windows, reverberating on her skin. It reminded him of their night by the fireplace a few days ago. He had been so happy to surrender himself to her touches again. He still couldn't believe his luck that she had taken him back, and even more that she still seemed to feel the same way about him as he did about her. It filled his heart, he felt he'd burst if he didn't get to tell her as soon as possible.

But seeing Hanna with her eyes closed, breathing steadily and almost asleep, Caleb decided it had to wait. He laid back down next to her, spooning her just like last night. Then he pulled the cover over them and shifted his upper leg to cover hers to get as much body contact as possible. Hanna gave a quiet smile and grabbed hold of his hand. Then she shifted and turned her head around, meeting his lips for a sweet kiss. Brushing the hair from her face with his hand he sighed and whispered "Good night, Hanna."

"Good night, Caleb" She whispered back and turned to rest her head on his arm again. Then she closed her eyes and immediately fell into a peaceful sleep.

 _to be continued..._

* * *

 _There you go, that was chapter two._

 _Thank you so much for your kind reviews, they really mean the world to me. I've only just started writing and your feedback is like feeding my muse!_

 _Let me know if you liked the second part. Zip  
_


	3. Chapter 3 - THURSDAY morning

**Chapter 3 – THURSDAY morning**

Mmmmmmmm…. Mmmmmmmm… Mmmmmmmm… Mmmmmmmm… Mmmmmmmm…

A slow and steady hum filled the silence of the apartment. It took both Hanna and Caleb a couple of minutes to locate its source.

Hanna was first to blink an eye, then shut it straight away. The light of the early morning was too blinding. But the sound of the ongoing buzz was even more annoying, so she forced her eyes open and got up to turn off the sound of her alarm clock app on her cell phone that was lying on the kitchen counter.

7:06 AM.

She hadn't looked at her phone since she and Caleb had finished cooking dinner last night. Now she saw that she had missed two texts in the meantime, one from Lucas reminding her to be on time for a business meeting with him later that day. The other one was from Spencer, asking her if she could bring her some stuff to the hospital. Hanna quickly replied she would come by right after breakfast.

She put the phone back down on the countertop and snuck back to the couch. As she slid back under the cover, Caleb stirred and opened his eyes. "Hey, good morning." he greeted her lovingly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Actually, I did" she answered with a smile. Then she cuddled back into his arms, lying on her back with her head turned so she could face him. Caleb leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her lips followed by a second.

"So," he dragged out the letters to sound casual "what are we gonna do today?" He lay back down and flexed his arm to play with her hair surrounding her beautiful morning face like a bright halo.

"Ugh, no cooking today, please. This place still smells like the cart of a Bangkok street vendor. You'd think in a place like this there'd be a functioning vent." Hanna groaned.

"Well, Lucas probably never cooks here. His kitchen is just for display. " He chuckled.

"But he has a top-notch security system, I can tell you that." She chimed in and also thought of the fireplace that could be activated by use of an app. Then all of a sudden her smile froze. "Oh my god, do you think he has security cameras in this room, too?" She hastily scrambled to get up, pulling the cover with her to hide her naked body.

Caleb instantly understood her train of thought. Trying to calm her nerves, he held her back by grabbing her wrist. "Hanna, if he actually does have cameras in here, he's already seen everything. I mean we really didn't waste any time covering ourselves up when we had sex by that fireplace over there. If he saw us doing it there, he probably would have turned his cameras off by now."

Or he would have started his own video collection. He shook off that thought and hoped Lucas was still a decent guy.

"Look, could we stop talking about Lucas? I feel bad enough for the guy. He's probably caught some stuff on camera he's never seen before." He chuckled again.

"Oh, god!" Hanna covered her eyes with her forearm, feeling the embarrassment creep up her face.

But all of a sudden her face changed to a grin when she remembered the events of the night Caleb was referring to. "You're right, we really outdid ourselves that night." She laid back down next to him.

After a long pause where they just lay side by side, listening to each other's heartbeats, Hanna broke the silence: "Oh, I just remembered… Spencer asked me to bring her some books to the hospital. She's feeling much better now. So, I'll drive by the hospital later."

"Are you going to tell her?" Caleb wanted to know.

"Tell her what?"

"About us?"

"I think she knows. But yeah, I think I will. It's only fair to have her hear it from me, you know."

He nodded silently and resumed stroking her face. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look first thing in the morning?"

Hanna's cheeks turned red, she was never comfortable to be on the receiving end of compliments. "I don't think so." She replied shyly.

He lifted himself up a little and gently cupped her face, turning it around so he could look her in the eyes. Then he resumed speaking: "You're beautiful. Believe me when I tell you that you don't need paint on your face to make it stand out."

Gaining self-confidence, she boldly replied: "Come on, you're just saying that because you're sleeping with me." She looked at him coyly.

But his face turned a little more serious. "Do you remember that time you stepped into my shower, uninvited?"

A small grin appeared on Hanna's face, remembering exactly what he was talking about. "Oh yeah. Couldn't forget what I saw in there for days after."

"That bad?" He sheepishly asked.

"That good, you dumbass," she laughed and hit him with one of the small couch cushions. Then she continued, "You have no idea how much you turned me on that day." She paused for a second, searching for his eyes. "You still do. Seeing your cute little butt–"

Turning a little reddish himself, he cut her off. "Hanna, I wasn't fishing for compliments. Let me finish, okay?" She regained her composure and made an effort not to let her mind drift off to the image of his perfectly shaped butt.

Caleb continued: "I remember everything about that day. What you were wearing, the look on your face when I turned around and you saw my-"

"Caleb!" She shrieked.

"What?" He grinned at her. "You started this." He gave her a peck on her forehead. "Anyways, I remember you knocked on the door and asked me to hand you your mascara. Then you came into the bathroom, looking for it yourself because I was in the shower. Next thing I know, you step into the bathtub, covering my mouth because your mom forgot something in the bathroom and you were pretending to take a shower."

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Bust your cute little butt?" She playfully inquired.

He darted an irritated look at her. "That's not what I'm saying. I may have been just a kid from the street, but I was pretty damn sure that mascara's that stuff you put on your eyelashes, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Hanna, your eyelashes were already covered in mascara. Lots of it."

She turned her face away pretending to wipe some invisible lint off of the blanket.

 _I knew it._

Caleb chuckled. He tried to get her to look at him again by whispering softly: "Hey, it's okay."

"All right, you got me, I didn't need my mascara. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of you before I had to leave for school. There…. Happy?"

She pouted, but he knew it was all just to mock him, so he hurried to explain: "I remember vividly how beautiful you looked with that braid in your hair, your makeup all done… I really didn't… no, I still don't understand why you would want to hide your face behind thick layers of makeup. If you're doing it to make yourself feel better or more attractive, I'm not gonna keep you from it. That's who you are. But I want you to know that you never have to do it for me."

His eyes mirrored his sincerity. And Hanna knew he meant what he said. Their lips met for a passionate kiss.

He made a mental note to tell her more often how beautiful she looked. Her face would always light up and make her eyes shine like diamonds when he did. He knew she still had issues with those scars from the cattle prod that were covering part of her body. He wanted to make sure for the rest of their lives she'd never have to feel inferior again.

Hanna let her tongue dive into the crevices of his mouth, never minding they both hadn't brushed their teeth yet. But a more carnal urge was starting to take over her body, all rational thought ultimately blanking out in her mind.

As their mouths parted to catch a breath, Hanna searched for his eyes again, looking for encouragement to continue. She found the most loving pair of brown eyes, set in a flawless, yet unshaven face. The look in his eyes radiated longing. Just what she had been hoping to see.

 _Screw your cameras, Lucas Gottesman._

She pulled him against her and her mouth took possession of his. Caleb's hand softly caressed her flat stomach, then grazed over her hip and along her thigh, after that slid all the way up to her breasts, taking turns in pinching them lightly and breathing on them with his hot breath.

Hanna parted her legs, hoping that he would take the hint. She arched up against him as he skimmed his fingers over her folds. Little spots danced in her vision, a shimmering preview of an impending orgasm that felt just out of reach.

Then Caleb moved over her body, kissing her shoulder and neck until she rolled onto her back, pulling him with her.

He shifted his weight onto his elbow and reached between them. He kissed her earlobe, murmuring her name as his finger slid in and out of her. As his mouth captured hers he slid two fingers in, curling them a little before withdrawing.

"Let's skip foreplay, I'm ready," Hanna gasped. "Now." Her flushed cheeks and the glazed look in her eyes were everything Caleb needed to spur his own arousal. It was the most erotic sight he had ever seen.

"Hanna…," he murmured as he shifted on top of her and pressed against her entrance. His eyes gazed at her, seeking pleasure from the look of arousal on her face. Then he slid the first couple of inches inside her, his body pausing and shuddering lightly before he continued to bury himself inside of her. She let out a little whimper.

Caleb moved slowly at first. A measured and deliberate push in, an unhurried retreat. After a few minutes his back grew slick from the effort and Hanna scrambled to grab hold of him to maintain a steady angle. She pushed the covers off the couch using one hand and a foot before roaming his body again, trying to touch as much of him as possible.

He dropped little kisses on her forehead, her nose, her cheeks. She still couldn't quite get over the fact that this was Caleb inside her. That they were really here, actually doing this - again. This was Caleb, making those soft grunts with each thrust in.

She touched his face, trying to memorize this moment. Just as she had done all those other times before… their first time in a tent seven years ago… making out in her car in the parking lot near the Kissing Rock when she was still living at home with her mom… the naughtier encounters from happier times when they had just moved to New York and were only just starting to discover the freedom of being able to do it when and wherever they wanted…

Her arousal grew exponentially. Her hands mapped out the muscles of his back and arms. Had it ever been like this when they were dating? Making love as uninhibited, as passionate as they were right this moment?

It hadn't, and right there Hanna realized why. It was making up for everything they had lost three years ago. Making up for every single night they had missed out on spending together in the past three years.

The very thought caused a shudder to come over her, setting loose a rush of heat inside her right where their bodies were joined. She let out a surprised gasp and drew her legs up. Caleb moaned and increased his pace along with the intensity of his thrusts.

She was so close to the edge. It was one more final push from him that she needed. Suddenly heat and light combined in a blinding flash, and then wave after wave of pure pleasure came rolling in as they both climaxed at the same time before collapsing against each other, completely spent.

They remained in that position for a couple of minutes, while Hanna took turns in stroking over the length of his entire back and fondling the very same stretch of skin, causing Caleb to moan with absolute contentment and satisfaction.

Hanna's phone gave another buzzing sound, announcing an incoming voice message. Reluctantly, Caleb got up first, handed her the phone and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. He was running late for work. Again.

 **XXXXX**

An hour later, Hanna had showered and dressed. Caleb had left shortly after Spencer had sent her the list of books she wanted Hanna to bring.

They had said goodbye after agreeing to meet for lunch at the Radley. Both had decided to tell Hanna's mom that they were back together, hoping to spark a little empathy for when Caleb would show up late for work again.

Hanna was facing yet another day of running errands and she was grateful for the distraction. Right after breakfast she drove to Spencer's barn, picked up the requested reading material and headed to the hospital. Her friend was feeling much better but she still had bandages on her gunshot wound, and her arm was being held by a sling to support her shoulder.

Pleased with Hanna's visit, she asked what her friends were up to, giving Hanna an occasion to come clean about the latest developments in regards to Caleb. She told Spencer that they were back in love again, assuming that that was the current status of their relationship. She knew what she was feeling for him, but they hadn't really talked about it yet. She intended to broach that subject later that night.

Spencer was being a good friend, wishing Hanna and Caleb all the best and admitting that she had seen it coming. As Hanna asked what gave them away, Spencer's eyes drifted off to a point somewhere in the far distance. Swallowing visibly, she disclosed to Hanna that Caleb had never told her he loved her. Hanna looked stricken. She'd had no idea.

After that she had steered their conversation in a different direction. She didn't want to hurt Spencer by reveling in her current love life.

At noon Hanna met up with Lucas at the Brew, going over business details for their design label. Lucas urged her to start working again, demanding some fresh designs. Hanna didn't feel like returning to her drawing pad anytime soon, when in reality she told him that she had some ideas and promised to get them down on paper by week's end. That seemed to appease him, and he let her off the hook, so she could meet her lunch date. Hanna gave him a goodbye hug and headed outside.

She didn't notice the dreamy look on Lucas' face when she had turned around and left their table. He looked after her until she reached her car and drove away.

 **XXXXX**

By the time she arrived at the Radley Hotel, Caleb had already been waiting for her. A fresh cup of coffee had been placed on the table where she was supposed to take her seat.

She spotted him as soon as she had entered the lobby. There they were again… the butterflies in her belly every time she saw his face – the one face in a crowd of a million she would always recognize - unseeing - by that distinct scar on his forehead. Her heart skipped a beat, and she instantly increased her pace to get to his table even faster, so she could give him a huge teddy bear hug and inhale his wonderful natural scent mixed with his favorite CALVIN KLEIN perfume. It had been the very first present she ever bought for his birthday back when they were teenagers. And to this day he had never cared to switch to a different brand.

When Caleb spotted Hanna, he got up, ready to feel her in his arms again. They smiled at each other, not breaking eye contact until Hanna had crossed the lobby and reached his table. Then he pulled her into his arms, swaying them gently. After a moment his hands moved to the sides of her face, and he placed a tender kiss on her lips.

"Hey." He welcomed her.

They sat down and ordered a pizza to share as soon as the waitress stopped by at their table. Before long Hanna's mom arrived and ordered a salad for herself.

When the food was served at their table Hanna decided to break the news about her and Caleb. Ashley Marin had always held a special place in her heart for her daughter's first love, seeing how caring he had always been. She was genuinely happy for the couple.

Half an hour later they had finished their meals. Checking her watch, Hanna realized she only had another doctor's appointment on her agenda, but after that she was available for suggestions. When she asked Caleb for his plans for the rest of the day, his face turned serious.

"Han, there's a conference in Philly that your mom is making me go to in her place. I'm afraid I won't be back until tomorrow morning." Seeing her smile disappear from her face he quickly added: "I'm sorry." He exchanged a nervous look with Ashley Marin, which didn't go unnoticed by Hanna.

"Well, can't I come with you?"

"It's a conference for people in the security industry, kind of a big deal. You need an official invitation. And above all you need to-" His voice had started to quaver, so Ashley helped him finish the sentence.

"You need to help me find a dress for tomorrow. I have a date!" Ashley explained.

Hanna turned around to look at her mother: "Really, mom? That's so great! Who's the guy? Do I know him?" Hanna didn't have to feign an interest, it had been a long time since her mother had been out on a date. She was happy for her.

Weighing her options, Hanna decided to give it a rest and agreed to meet her mother after hours to go shopping with her. When Ashley's lunch hour was over, she said goodbye and headed back to work.

Hanna and Caleb sat down again. "What time do you leave?" Hanna wanted to know.

"I'm leaving in an hour." Caleb gave a pouty response.

Hanna was just as disappointed. "Already?"

Trying to make amends, Caleb offered a suggestion: "Hey, I tell you what. You'll order your favorite food for dinner, text me what it is, and then I'll go out for dinner in Philly and I'll have the same, and we'll face-time over dinner together? What do you think?"

When she wouldn't answer, he gently cupped her face. "All right, I'll face-time you as soon as I arrived at the hotel and you can pick my business attire. Deal?"

At that her face lit up. He planted a firm kiss on her lips and got up. "I gotta go. I still have some packing to do." He pulled her up from her chair and stroked over her face. "You'll see, tomorrow will be there in no time. And then I'll come by your apartment and we can… catch up on everything we're missing out tonight."

"You bet we will." When a full-on smile appeared on her face, he said: "Looking forward to it. Bye!"

And then he disappeared in the throng of people in the lobby. Hanna sat back down again and pulled her phone from her purse. She didn't want to spend the evening alone, so she decided to call the girls and ask if they wanted to meet up. When none of her friends answered their phone, she left the Radley and drove to her trauma therapy session.

 **XXXXX**

As soon as Caleb had left the hotel lobby, he also pulled out his phone and hastily typed "THX". Then he sent his message to Ashley Marin and stepped out onto the curb with a mischievous grin painted on his face.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Let me know by leaving a review. THANK YOU SO MUCH!_

 _On a personal note, if you discover spelling or grammar mistakes that really hurt the eye, please let me know. Keep in mind, English is not my first language. ;-)_

 _Chapter 4 is almost finished, and consider yourself warned, it's gonna be a loooong one. I just couldn't find a suitable passage to split it. But I have the feeling you won't mind... Zip_


	4. Chapter 4 - THURSDAY late afternoon

_So, we're on to the next chapter. Thanks for sticking with me so far, we still have plenty of adventures ahead of us. ;-) I struggled a little bit with some details here, not knowing if I may be going a little off-canon. You'll know it when you get there. But I'm a sucker for romance, I couldn't help it. Sorry, not sorry!_

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - THURSDAY late afternoon**

Caleb scanned the closet one more time, making sure he had packed everything. He had finished face-timing Hanna just a few minutes ago, presenting various outfits to her while standing in the middle of the superior suite at his hotel, while she was at _Neiman Marcus_ waiting for her mom to try on some cocktail dresses.

Once she had given her thumbs-up for the dark denim pants and a white and gray pin-striped button-down shirt, he told her he'd been invited to a drink by some fellow conference attendees and had to end their conversation.

"I miss you." Hanna spoke into her phone with a sad undertone.

"I miss you, too, babe." Which wasn't a lie. "But now it's only 18 hours until I can hug and kiss you again."

THAT was a lie.

Trying to act casual, Caleb asked for her plans for the rest of the day. Hanna had called her friends, hoping to get together for some girl-talk as soon as she was done shopping with her mom, but Aria had gone out of town to visit her brother, and Emily had claimed she and Alison weren't feeling that well today. And Spencer was still in the hospital.

That had left Hanna with few other options. Eventually, she had decided to stay at home, run a hot bath and maybe get started on some of those sketches she had promised to present to Lucas in the near future. Or she could go to bed early and fill up her energies for when Caleb got back home again, she thought with a gleaming look in her eyes. The idea of leaping back into his arms the next day made her miss him even more.

She quickly told him about her non-specific plans to stay in for the night and then ended the call.

After they had hung up, Caleb felt bad about leaving her high and dry. But then his face turned into a sly grin, and he shut the closet. He picked up his travel bag, strolled over to the door and left the room.

Outside in the hall, a bellhop was already waiting for him. Caleb gave him his key card and thanked him, slipping a twenty-dollar bill into his hand.

Then he walked out of the hotel and headed to his car that was parked outside on the curb. He put his bag in the trunk, rearranging the bulk of cartons, bags and boxes until everything fit inside and the lid of the trunk would close.

Caleb locked the car and went back to the hotel.

 _On to the next stop on the list…_

 **XXXXX**

Hanna had put on her comfortable pajamas and sat on the floor in her apartment with her drawing utensils strewn all around her, and the piece of white paper on the drawing pad before her still untainted. Her mind was blank.

She had been sitting like this for over an hour and now felt the first sensation of hunger creeping in.

Her mom had been called in for an emergency meeting at the hotel when a water pipe had burst, so they had to cut their shopping spree and cancel their plan to have dinner together.

Suddenly, she remembered something. She got up and picked up her phone from the side table. Then she quickly typed a message and hit _send_.

 **XXXXX**

Caleb's phone gave a buzzing sound while he was sipping on his ice tea at the hotel bar.

 _Ordering in fries and my favorite pizza tonight. Join me? Hanna_

Chuckling lightly at her predictability, Caleb slid from his stool and crossed the lobby. When he reached the hotel restaurant, he slipped a note to the restaurant manager and then picked up his order that he had placed a mere fifteen minutes ago.

Then he went outside to his car and put the food on the passenger's seat. Settling down in his driver's seat he pulled his phone from the front pocket of his denim jacket and typed in his reply to Hanna.

 _Give me twenty minutes._

He started the engine only to shut it off again the next second after having checked his watch. Then he settled back in his seat and watched the minutes tick by.

Fifteen minutes later he finally drove off in the dusk.

 **XXXXX**

When the numbing feeling of her missing creativity had threatened to overwhelm her, Hanna put her drawing paraphernalia away. She went to get her copy of _Simple Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms_ from the bottom drawer of her night table and settled back on the couch, hoping for the pizza delivery guy to show up any minute so she could finally call Caleb again.

Seven pages into the book, she heard a commotion outside her door. Thinking it had to be the delivery guy she got up and returned the book to where it was kept safe.

Hanna ransacked her purse in order to find her wallet. Still no knock on the door.

 _Why is this taking so long today?_

Another commotion in the hallway reached her ears. Before she could reach for the door handle, there was a two-time knock and a familiar voice hollered: "Pizza delivery!"

Hanna opened the door and instantly stepped back in shock.

It was Caleb…. surrounded by a pile of boxes and travel bags, which looked like he had gathered his entire belongings.

He was carrying a pizza carton and a delivery bag from her favorite restaurant in his hands and smiled at her unwaveringly.

"Your mom kicked me out of the hotel. She said she needed my room due to an untimely overbooking." And with a twinkle in his eyes, he continued: "Got a spare basement where I can crash tonight?" A sheer grin appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Hanna could only stare in bewilderment. "You're not in Philly?"

 _Seven_.

"Nope." He enjoyed watching her unravel his sudden appearance to the fullest. He just loved to surprise her. He did know exactly that she didn't cope well with surprises, but he couldn't help it.

"But what about your conference?"

 _Six_.

"Hanna, there is no conference in Philly tonight. At least not for me. It was just a simple pretext to dupe you because I wanted it to be a surprise when I came by tonight to tell you I want to move in with you." He spoke with a soothing voice.

"But you weren't in your room at the Radley when we were face-timing three hours ago. Where were you?" Hanna continued to question him.

 _Five_.

"I gave the bellhop at the Radley a couple of bucks to sneak me into one of those nice expensive suites on the top floor." He beamed at her, somewhat proud of the plan he had come up with to sidetrack her.

"And my mom knew about this?" Hanna remembered the course of their conversation at lunch, which was suddenly starting to make sense to her.

 _Four_.

"Uh-huh." He nodded assuringly.

"And all the shirts in the closet?" Hanna's inquisition wasn't over yet.

 _Three_.

"I had everything packed already. Just had to hang some clothes in the closet, listen to your sweet voice recommending the best pair of pants to show off my cute butt, thank you for that, by the way, and put on these nice clothes just for you." He smiled at her.

"Did you ambush the delivery guy or where did my pizza go?" She pushed on frowning.

 _Two_.

"I was at the Radley having a drink at the bar when you sent me your text. I slipped Ed a note to intercept your order and picked up the one I had placed beforehand."

When her frown grew even bigger, he hurried to explain. "Hanna, I know you. Inside and out. Do you honestly think I forgot what kind of food you order for yourself when you're in your PJs and about to binge-watch _Girls_ or something like it?"

She looked down at herself, kind of embarrassed she was in her PJs when he was looking so devastatingly handsome in the outfit that she had chosen for him to wear at his _fake_ conference.

She pointed to the bag in his hand to divert his attention. "Are they cold?"

 _One._

"Almost." He chuckled and watched her facial features relax and almost form a smile.

 _So pre-dict-a-ble._

"All right, Han, you have exactly one question left before I grab the food and throw it down the trash chute. And believe me, you don't want me to do that." He pointed at the bag. "Because I know you need your peperoni pizza and fries when you're this worked up."

With tears glistening in her eyes she stood there processing, weighing in on her options.

There he was, standing in front of her apartment, all packed up and ready to move in with her, willing to spend every day and every night with her for the rest of his life.

Eventually, she opened her mouth to ask one last question.

"Aren't you coming inside at last?"

At that Caleb dropped the pizza carton and the bag of fries on the floor, stepped inside and put his hands on both sides of her head, pulling her close for a passionate kiss, while Hanna looped her arms around his waist.

After a long moment, their lips parted from each other, leaving them out of breath. They looked at each other in silent bliss. As they let the meaningfulness of this moment sink in, they leaned their foreheads against each other and closed their eyes.

 **XXXXX**

The loud sound of a stomach rumbling broke the silence. Hanna and Caleb let go of each other and stepped out in the hallway to carry all of Caleb's belongings into her apartment.

 _Their_ apartment.

When they were done, they sat down on the couch and ate cold fries and a cold squishy peperoni pizza.

It was heaven.

As the last slice had disappeared in Caleb's mouth, Hanna had a suggestion to offer: "Come on, I'll help you unpack your stuff." She put the strap of one of the smaller bags on her shoulder and pulled him off the couch with her free hand.

Caleb grabbed the largest of his bags and followed her to the bedroom where two closets were taking up about half the length of the wall opposite the bed.

Hanna put the bag on the floor and walked over to the closet to her left. Then she moved one of the sliding doors to reveal the completely overloaded clothes rail. She shoved all of the hangers with her blouses, shirts and skirts over to one side of the rail. She didn't mind that her clothes would get all wrinkled up. She also didn't care that he didn't even possess the amount of clothes to fill even half of his part of the clothes rail.

It was a gesture; she was making a point: He was her other half.

Looking at the pile of clothes Caleb pulled out of his bags, she tossed some of her shirts to the floor to hand him some hangers she no longer needed.

Then she sat down on the bed and watched him put his clothes on hangers and onto the rail. She quickly shoved away the indistinct memory of a half-empty clothes rail in their New York apartment, which had brought her to the edge of a mental breakdown because it had indicated the end of their relationship three years ago.

He took his time, relishing the moment of putting the two halves of their lives back together in a new joint place. He ostentatiously put one hanger after the other on the clothes rail, searching for her eyes, finding silent agreement and a wisp of tears.

When all of his stuff was stowed away, he lay down right beside her while using his feet to shove off his shoes. Hanna shifted a little and let her upper body sink down.

Caleb and Hanna interlaced their hands and looked at the ceiling in comfortable silence.

"I dreamed of this," she said with her eyes still staring at a distant point above her.

"Me too." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"But are you sure about it?" She turned her face to the side and looked at his silhouette.

Noticing that her gaze was now resting on his face, Caleb turned his head, too, and looked at her lovingly.

"Never been so sure about anything. I already told you I never want to spend another day without you. So I might as well move in with you." Hanna closed her eyes, poising. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

When she opened her eyes again, his gaze was unwavering. The warmth exuding from his eyes made her feel enveloped in a safe cocoon of trust and assurance. Hanna shifted to lie on her side causing him to follow suit. Then she closed the distance between them to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

Before he would have a change of heart, his lips moved, asking the burning question that needed to be asked.

"Why did you give your consent when Spencer asked you if she and I could… if we could… you know… see each other?"

She knew this was just the right moment for them to address this issue. If they wanted to take their relationship to the next level by living together, there could be no more secrets, no unresolved questions.

And Caleb's relationship with Spencer was the only topic they hadn't touched – until now.

Hanna exhaled sharply. "She seemed to really like you. And she came to me asking for my consent at a point when you and I had only just started talking to each other again after three years."

Caleb lay there listening, not daring to cut in.

"Caleb, I hadn't seen, texted or talked to you in three whole years. I was convinced you had moved on with your life. I mean I had moved on, got engaged…" Her voice faltered.

When he grabbed her hand for reassurance, she found her thread again and continued to speak.

"I had Jordan. He was a good guy, caring and… understanding. He had all of your good qualities. Plus he could handle my work schedule. I was happy."

A tear emerged from the corner of her eye. "Caleb, you have no idea how long it took me to get over you after you walked out of our apartment and never came back. I had told myself, for my own sanity, to never let anyone get that close to me again. Ever. But then you came by my hotel room when I was back in town, saying you were back, too, and planning to stay. I had to protect myself."

He silently nodded, understanding her reasoning.

"So I let you off the hook. I just wanted for you to be happy. And I thought that if being with Spencer was making you happy, I didn't want to stand in your way."

When Caleb still wouldn't say something, Hanna pressed on: "Can I ask you something, too?"

He had a hunch what she was about to say. "Yeah."

"Did you love Spencer?" Hanna had heard Spencer's side of the story, but she needed to hear it from him. She needed his eyes to confirm her inkling.

Trying to look straight into her soul, he kept a steady gaze, hoping to find his answer.

Until he saw it in her eyes. "No." He went on to elaborate: "In a different place, at a different time, Spencer might have been the right woman for me. I liked her, I mean… I still like her… but there was one thing about her that I couldn't bear."

Hanna anxiously inquired: "What was it?"

His answer came promptly: "She wasn't you."

She saw the sincerity in his eyes and ultimately knew he was being completely truthful.

There was just one last thing she hadn't been able to wrap her head around.

"Do you remember the night you came to Spencer's barn begging her for forgiveness after you had told her about our kiss at the Lost Woods?"

Caleb frowned. _How did she-?_

"I was there. I was standing in the middle of that room and I heard everything you said through the door."

He lifted his upper body off of the bed, supporting his weight on one hand while grabbing hold of hers with the other. He closed his eyes, taking in this new information.

"You heard that?"

"Every word." She shifted and sat up, too. "That was the worst moment of my life. Hearing you cry over another woman… hearing you say that our kiss hadn't meant anything to you."

He sat up straight and used his now free hand to wipe the tears from her eyes that had emerged while she had been speaking.

Caleb began to explain: "Hanna, you were engaged and you had made it very clear to me that our kiss had been a one-off. I had already lost you to Jordan, I didn't want to lose Spencer, too. I was so strung out, you know, emotionally, I couldn't really think. So I ran back to her and asked for forgiveness. Ending it like that just didn't seem right."

Caleb paused. His mind was racing trying to come up with the right words to continue.

"She broke up with me shortly after that because... you know... she realized that I didn't love her the same way she did." He searched for her eyes, hoping to find understanding.

"We had a physical connection, that's what it was. She was there at a time when I had no-one else to go to."

Hanna's eyes had drifted away, looking at her folded hands that were resting in her lap.

He used his index finger to nudge her head back in his direction so he could look at her properly.

"I didn't love her, Hanna… because I was still in love with you. And because..." He hesitated but then went on with a firm voice: "I had never been able to forget you."

He faltered again. "Spencer was the only woman in three years that I… that I ever… -"

Suddenly, he saw Hanna's eyes widen in surprise. And as soon as the realization hit her, she leaned over and kissed him.

Within a beat, he returned the kiss, taking it to a deeper level by pressing his tongue against her slightly parted lips. She willingly granted access, allowing the tip of her tongue to play with his.

Caleb's hand dove into her blonde hair that felt so silky and soft, and automatically found its way to the back of her head to steady her.

Hanna put her hand on his chest, feeling the increasing beat of his heart.

 _It belonged to her._ No other woman would ever stand a chance against her.

Now she was absolutely sure.

When kissing wasn't enough to still the desire they both felt deep inside, Caleb gently pushed her down until she was lying flat on her back.

Hanna frowned a little when he didn't lie down next to her but instead began slowly undressing her.

He took off the sock on her right foot and dropped it next to the bed.

When she raised her body to help him with his efforts, he gently pushed her back down again, saying: "No, please let me. Just lie down and relax." Then he continued with the task ahead by removing her left sock, tossing it to where its lonely friend on the floor waited.

Caleb slid off the bed and knelt down, leaning over to reach the parts of her body that he had just uncovered. As he started raining little kisses as soft as the touch of a butterfly all over her naked feet,

Hanna folded her arms behind her head and closed her eyes, just enjoying the sensation of his touch against her sensitive skin.

Suddenly his mouth left her skin and she instantly opened her eyes. Seeing that he scrambled to remove his own socks while kneeling on the floor, she had to stifle a laugh.

After that, Caleb moved his body further up along her legs, his hands reaching for the waistband of her pajama pants. He slid it down just an inch and revealed her belly button. Showering little kisses in a small circle around it, he noticed that her face had changed. The amusement caused by his sock show had vanished and the first signs of arousal had appeared when her lips parted and her breath started to quicken.

In a swift move, and with Hanna helping him by raising her butt for a few seconds, Caleb pulled the pants further down but hesitated when her black panties came into view. He had to swallow, unsure if he could keep up the slow pace of his soothing ministrations for much longer.

They'd done fast. It had been great.

But now he wanted to take things slow to allow them to revel in the feeling of having come clean with each other. A fresh start for their relationship without old baggage.

When Caleb had pulled her pants all the way down, he tossed them without taking his eyes off of her body. His hands traveled along the length of her legs stroking them gently. Her skin was so smooth, it was almost his undoing.

He moved his body a little further up until he reached her middle, then he knelt down to straddle her. His hands left her body again and started to unbutton his shirt at a tantalizingly slow speed. When Caleb was finished, he pushed the shirt off of his shoulders and threw it to the growing pile of clothes they had already shed.

Within the blink of an eye, his hands were back, roaming all over the soft stretches of naked skin.

Hanna just lay there, enjoying the growing excitement of being seduced by Caleb's perfectly soft hands. She kept her eyes shut, limiting all of her senses to just feeling him.

In the next moment, Caleb grabbed the hem of her night shirt. He pushed it upwards slowly, revealing her naked stomach inch by inch, trailing the freshly revealed skin with his tongue, alternating with leaving little kisses here and there.

Hanna's body had started to tremble lightly. She didn't even understand why; her body felt like on fire, every nerve ending high on anticipation. She readied herself for the next level in his erotic game by unfolding her arms and stretching them beside her head.

At long last, Caleb removed her shirt by sliding his hands underneath the material and moving them upwards all along both of her arms, thus freeing them from their sleeves. A shiver ran through her as his fingers caressed her skin.

He was surprised to see her wearing a black, lace-trimmed bra. He hadn't taken that additional piece of clothing into account; expecting fewer layers of clothing between them before finally being able to touch each other skin to skin. After all she had opened the door for him, wearing her comfortable PJs.

 _On second thought…_

She did look incredibly sexy in black lingerie. With a quick movement, he pulled the shirt above her head, tossed it away, and put his hands on her wrists.

When he had made sure that Hanna was comfortable in her position, trapped beneath him, Caleb slowly let his hands slide all the way down her arm, then down on the sides of her rib-cage, ending the movement at her waist where he stalled and took in the sight in front of him.

At that, Hanna broke the silence. "I wanted to call you again tonight and have a little face-time session wearing nothing but this", she said with a sultry voice, "and this." She pointed to her bra and panties.

Feeling completely at ease, they grinned at each other.

Suddenly, Caleb slid off the bed and came to a stand. One by one, he opened the buttons of his own denim pants, his speed slightly increased. Then he pulled them down and simply stepped out, not feeling the need to waste any more energy by shoving them away.

He climbed back onto the bed and laid down on her, supporting his weight on his elbows.

Almost shyly, Hanna looked up at Caleb. He seemed hesitant at first, looking at her intently. Then he put his hands on her breasts.

She gasped slightly as he cupped them, her nipples hardening at the feel of his warm hand through the lace of her bra.

His fingers reached the front clasp and snapped it open, freeing her breasts from the lacy garment, before removing it and letting it fall on the floor.

Hanna arched her back when he started tracing along the underside of her breasts, letting his fingers linger on her skin.

He layered little open-mouthed kisses around her areolas as he sought and quickly found a nipple to suckle. Beyond teasing foreplay, he took her nipple fully into his mouth, sucking the erect nub eagerly.

His quiet moans echoed her louder ones as he pleasured her, and as he switched sides to give her other breast the same treatment.

Hanna's eyes were glazed, and her face was flushed. Her breath was coming irregularly.

Suddenly, he pulled back, having to catch a breath himself. Hanna took the chance to spur his arousal. Eyes closed, she trailed hot, wet kisses across his shoulder. Her hands buried themselves inside of his boxers, flat against his butt. She squeezed lightly and pulled him closer towards her.

A deep groan escaped him as his erection pressed against her thigh.

She looked up at his face and saw him smile. Such a small little gesture, but it held so much power and so much promise, too. For a few seconds that seemed to last a lifetime, she looked at his face, caressing every inch of it with her eyes. The shape of his eyebrows, the deep chocolate color of his eyes, the strong jawline… and that smile. Oh, that smile.

She needed to touch more of him to grasp the fact that he was real. That this wasn't a dream. She placed her palm flat against his chest, feeling the thundering beat of his heart.

In anticipation of her next move, Caleb lifted his body.

She traced a large, slow circle on his skin and as she completed the circular motion, she let her hand slide all the way down to his erection. Hanna felt him twitch as she closed her hand around it, through his boxers. Slowly, teasingly, she brushed a finger over the swollen tip.

Caleb's head fell back and he let out a long guttural moan, hips jerking forward. He mumbled something that sounded like her name – she wasn't sure – when she took her hand away from him.

Heart pounding and breathing heavily, he looked down to see why she had so suddenly robbed him of her touch. He saw her bite her lips and reach for the elastic band of his boxers, pulling them to his knees in one swift motion. When she couldn't reach farther down, he shimmied out of them and, with one foot, sent them flying towards the pile of his other clothes.

When they were face to face again, she brushed her lips over his, and he nibbled at her top lip, letting his tongue trail across it before slipping into her mouth, where it met hers in a sweet and silky touch.

Caleb's hand ran over the skin of her thigh and up her hip, lingering on every curve, leaving a burning trail behind as it traveled up. It came to rest on one of her breasts, massaging it gently. She moaned with pleasure at the sensation.

Hanna's hand found itself on his hip, almost of its own volition, pressing him down to increase the friction of his erection against her lower body.

Caleb's pulse quickened even more. He shifted above her, sliding down to grab hold of her panties. In no time, Caleb pulled the last piece of clothing between them off of her body.

The next moment, he was over her again. Hanna let out a soft cry and closed her eyes, feeling the tip of his erection traveling down between her slick folds. Guiding himself with one hand, he made a circular motion at her warm entrance.

"Oh, yes," she cried. Blindly, she raised her hands and grabbed hold of his shoulders, driving her fingers into his muscles.

Slowly and with great care, Caleb finally eased into her. Inch by inch, he slid inside, letting out a long shuddering breath. He pulled out, just as slowly, then gradually increased the speed of his motions before settling into a steady rhythm.

With every new thrust bringing him back, deep within her, the world around them seemed to vanish, allowing for this one moment, this one amazing moment, where all that existed was him – and her. Him within her.

Their breathing and movements became erratic, both of them drawing closer to the point of no return. Whimpers and cries of pleasure filled the room. Their senses were no longer able to discern just where one body begun and the other ended. They were one.

Suddenly, Hanna's body shuddered as intense waves of ecstasy washed over and through her. Caleb's last coherent thought faded away, the feel of her inner walls throbbing and rippling around him as she climaxed, sending him right over the edge. He gave one final thrust, spilling himself within her, a cry of pleasure escaping him.

A moment later, he collapsed on her, panting heavily.

He shifted lightly and looped his arms around her body, until Hanna's shoulder lay on his hands. Then he laid his head down in the valley between her breasts, putting his ear on the exact spot where her heart was, so he could listen to its steady drum.

Right here, right now, it was the best noise in the world. It meant she was close by. And she was alive.

He had already lost her three years ago. And he had been so grateful to have her back in his life again when he returned to Rosewood.

He had almost lost her again, thinking A.D. had abducted her. He remembered the horrendous minute seeing her lifeless body hanging inside the bell tower until he realized that it hadn't been her but a life-size doll. He remembered thinking that moment that if she had died because of his inability to secure the hotel room at the Lost Woods Resort properly, he never would have been able to forgive himself.

But now she was here, back in his arms again. Still unified with him – literally – for lack of movement.

There would never be a better time to tell her.

"Hanna?"

She was almost asleep - the physical exertions added to the hormonal output having worn her out - and her hands that had been combing through his hair had now come to a halt, keeping his head pressed down. She mumbled with a slurred voice: "What?"

"I love you."

And with that, he fell asleep, exhausted, but deeply content, assuming she had probably been too tired to last long enough to hear what he had to tell her. But that was all right.

They had all the time in the world to say and hear it again. And tomorrow was just a couple of hours away.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _Let me know what you think. ;-) I love reading your reviews! Thanks again for all of them. Zip_


	5. Chapter 5 - FRIDAY wee hours

**Chapter 5 – FRIDAY, wee hours**

"Caleb?" A yell disrupted the quiet of the night.

At first, it was only indistinct, a vibration to his ear, as he was still half asleep.

"Help!"

There it was again, her voice, now coming in clearer in his tired state of mind. He winced as he heard her call his name once more.

"Caleb? Help me, please!", followed by an even louder "Noooooooo!"

At that moment, Caleb woke with a start. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness surrounding him, he saw that Hanna was still lying beneath him, mumbling incoherent words, and as soon as he had lifted himself off of her to roll onto his side, she started twitching and lashing out, now that her body had the freedom to move again.

He realized that she must have been having another nightmare, so he gently stirred Hanna until she jumped with a jerk and finally woke from her bad dream.

Caleb moved to sit on the edge of the bed and pulled Hanna up until she crawled into his lap. He kept shushing her: "Shhh. It's okay, Hanna. It was just a dream." He pulled her head close to his shoulder and stroked over her hair, repeatedly saying: "It was just a dream."

"I couldn't breathe… I… I was trapped… Someone was burying me… and… I felt this huge… this huge weight on my chest." She spoke raggedly, still panting heavily. "I was looking for you…and you… you weren't there." At that, she started to cry.

"Shhh, baby. I'm here. You're fine. You were dreaming, that's all." Caleb kept whispering comforting words in her ear, holding her close. "The weight you were feeling, that was me. We fell asleep with me lying on your chest. All right? And believe me, you were breathing just fine."

At long last, her agitated breathing slowed down and stabilized. She looked at him with wide eyes, hardly seeing him in the dark room. Yet she recognized the concerned look on his face, scanning her to check unobtrusively if she was okay.

He wiped away her tears and held her in a tight embrace, giving her all the comfort and support that she needed right now.

Eventually, Hanna felt safe enough to get up from his lap and crawled back to her side of the bed, searching for a comfortable position to help her fall asleep again. Caleb instantly followed her.

And just like all those times before, whenever she would have a nightmare following her traumatic experiences in the dollhouse many years ago, he spooned her, pressing as much of his body against her back as he could to steady her.

His hands began to caress her still nude body, grazing her thighs, her flat stomach, her cleavage. All the while, his head lay nestled in the crook of her neck, from time to time showering soft kisses on her cheek and collarbone.

Hanna lay still, enjoying the little sensations from his touch washing over her, freeing her slowly from this fear that was still lingering deep within her.

Finally, his hand finished roaming her. He found her breast and cupped it. Her nipple instantly stiffened and she had to whimper to release some of the tension she had been holding.

At that, he felt his erection re-emerge, pressing against her butt.

Suddenly, into the stillness of the wee hours, her loving voice sounded: "Make love to me, Caleb."

He stalled his movements, negotiating in his mind what he would do now… how he should do it now… when her hand came reaching behind her. Hanna found what she had been looking for and wrapped her hand around his penis, now fully erect, guiding it to where she wanted it to be.

She parted her legs to make it easier for him.

His entry was slow but sure, and when Hanna clasped his hand, they found a rhythm together.

His hips circled against hers as he moved inside of her, meeting her in a slow cadence that he knew would last them longer. He buried his face in her hair; just smelling her spurred his arousal.

Their love-making was slow and calm. Soft moans of pleasure filled the room.

They each came quietly, holding on tightly as the pent-up tension subsided. Afterwards, they lay still for a while, drawing strength from each other's warmth and closeness.

Caleb pulled out slowly and whispered into her ear: "Think you can sleep now?"

She pressed a light kiss on his hand, then she shifted and turned around to face him. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. Though hardly able to see him, she tried to engrave his image on her memory, so the last blurry remnants of her nightmare would vanish from her mind.

"Now I can", she said drowsily. And together they reached for the covers to pull them over their naked bodies.

Caleb pulled her close to his chest, and her head came to lie on his upper arm. Their legs intertwined, and he put his free hand on the delicate curve of her butt, while hers came to rest on the small of his back.

Hanna snuggled up against him, feeling his warm breath on her forehead. She found herself overwhelmed with love for Caleb, the man whose body had shuddered with lust behind her, the man whose kisses had danced lightly over her neck and shoulder, the man whose arms now held her like he was her anchor in a stormy sea.

There was no feeling like it. Ever.

She would tell him soon.

 _Yeah, really soon._

But for now, his steady breathing was starting to lull her back to sleep at last.

 **XXXXX**

When the sun came up that morning, it was Caleb who was first to open his eyes. Adjusting to the sudden brightness, he raised his head a little and searched the room for his watch. He didn't want to wake Hanna who was still lying in his arms, so he tried to move as little as he could.

Realizing his watch was out of his reach, he found his phone instead and grabbed it with his free hand. He gave a pleased smile when he saw that there was still plenty of time to get up and ready for another day of work.

Caleb looked over at the sleeping beauty that held his arm capture. But he didn't mind. What's a stiff limb compared to having her feel safe and sound again after another one of her nightmares?

He watched her for a long moment. She was sleeping peacefully, breathing in and breathing out. Through her closed eyes he could see her eyeballs moving, which meant she was having another vivid dream.

Hanna had had many nightmares after she had been freed from the dollhouse. And all he could ever do was be there for her, comforting and listening to her. He didn't really understand the ramifications her traumatic experiences could have. But he had sworn to himself – five years and again a few months ago – that he would do anything to help her through her struggles. As a friend. Or a lover.

Whichever she'd choose.

She had chosen to let him into her life again. That in itself seemed like a miracle to him. He understood how hard it must have been for her, she had told him what their breakup had felt like to her… like losing a limb.

He hadn't disclosed to her that leaving her had been just as hard. And her words had hit home. The day he had walked out of their New York apartment, he had felt like his heart had been ripped out of its cage.

In a last effort to shake off his regret about hooking up with Hanna's friend when his heart so clearly hadn't been in it, he thought about it in a clinical way: Spencer had tried to put in a new one to replace what had been missing. But the thing about replacing organs or limbs was that while they could help you go on with your life, it would never be the same again. You might forever need medical treatment or live with austerities.

But he didn't want to live by limitations. Hanna had been his missing part. The one piece missing in his life to attain perfection, at least on a personal level.

He had dreamed and even wished for so long that mornings like this would ever happen again. That he could hold her in his arms again, kiss her… touch her… whenever he wanted to. But he was trying hard to be respectful and patient, allowing her to set the pace.

And now they were living together again. He felt so overjoyed that his heart almost skipped a beat thinking it was going to be like this for the rest of his life.

Before long, he wanted to have his own place with her again. Lucas' apartment was nice, but it wasn't theirs. And actually, they had a room-mate to share it with, unless Emily decided she would stay with Alison from now on.

As the minutes ticked by, Caleb gently stroked over Hanna's hair. His mind battled whether to wake her up to repeat some of the action that they had been able to enjoy over the past days, with Emily out of earshot.

But then he decided that for now, he would be fine just watching her and waiting for her to wake from her dream on her own.

However, his phone buzzed twice at that moment and startled Hanna out of her sleep. She flinched and raised her eyebrow, grumbling "What the-?"

Hanna immediately stopped when his friendly face smiled at her. "Good morning!"

"Hey!" She smiled back at Caleb as she realized that he was already awake. "You're up already? Got an emergency?"

He read the message before he could answer: "No, quite the opposite. Your mom texted me that she won't be needing me at work until noon." He flipped his phone to show her the message.

" _Hope your move went smoothly. Signed you up for the afternoon shift. Enjoy your morning off with Hanna and say hi. AM"_

Caleb's eyes started to glisten conspiratorially. "We have the whole morning to ourselves. Bless Mama Marin."

He tilted his body over to her side, taking her with him until she lay on her back. Without hesitation, he pressed his lips down on hers while his left thumb pushed back the strands of hair that had fallen on her face.

When their lips parted, they looked each other in the eyes for a long moment… just taking in each other's facial features.

Suddenly, Hanna broke the silence: "Caleb? Let me take a quick shower first."

But he didn't respond, instead smiled at her lovingly.

"Stop looking at me like that!" She tried to get up, but Caleb's arms were still pinning her to the mattress, and he didn't make an effort to let go of her.

"Like what?" He shot her a curious look.

"Like you're trying to seduce me again."

"Well, I'm not." He chuckled. "I'm just looking at you. I wasn't able to see you for three long years, I need to catch up." He made a point of checking out her entire face, checked her chin, her eyes, behind her ears. "You see, this third hole in your earlobe over here," he traced the outline of her outer ear with his tongue before sucking lightly on her earlobe. "This wasn't here the last time we dated. I need to memorize it."

He left her ear to shower little kisses all over her neck and shoulder, and Hanna's resistance started to dwindle.

"Well, now I'm sure you're up to something because you know that I can't resist when you kiss me like that." She tried to shake him off, laughing. "And normally-"

He cut her off kissing his way across her jawbone, but she continued speaking whenever his lips left her face for just a micro second, punctuated with more feather-light kisses around her mouth. "I would gladly take you up on your offer, but we've been all over each other in the past twelve hours, I really need to take a shower at last."

He pouted. In reaction, Hanna gave him a peck on his nose.

"I have an idea. I'll go take my shower, and you take care of breakfast? I need to eat something to fill up my energy."

When he still wouldn't budge, she added: "Once I've eaten, I'm going to seduce YOU for a change."

The mischievous look in her eyes completely threw him off track, and for a second, Caleb was sidelined. Hanna took a chance and pushed him to her side. Then she got off the bed and made a beeline for the bathroom, which was right next to their bedroom.

Once she reached the doorframe, she turned around and stuck her tongue out to him. "One extra-large coffee to go, please, and a Danish." She went inside, and in an instant, she opened the door one more time: "On second thought, make that two, please. I'm feeling kind of ambitious today."

She winked at him and then shut the door again. Through the closed door, Caleb's muffled voice sounded: "Oh baby, you're killing me." Hanna chuckled and started to run the hot water.

Eventually, Caleb lifted his naked body off the bed, slipped into his pants and pulled a fresh shirt from his part of the closet. Then he headed over to the kitchen to grab his wallet and his car key and hurried out of their apartment.

 **XXXXX**

Ten minutes later, Hanna stood under the shower, eyes closed, and let the spray of water wash over her body contentedly. She had finished her daily routine of shampooing her hair and shaving at record speed this morning. Now she simply enjoyed the little rivulets of water that were touching her skin.

She felt giddy like a teenager in love. With a little twitch in her stomach, she remembered that she hadn't felt like this in a long time. Not even in the first weeks of her relationship with Jordan. He had been the mature older man who had made her feel special again after her breakup with Caleb. She had felt flattered again, for sure, and he had always treated her well.

But with Caleb, things had been different. They had a history of firsts that would forever bond them. After all, he had been her first true love… And she had no intention to ever let him slip from her hands again.

The first time she had seen him together with Spencer, it had felt like a stab in the heart, making her realize that she had made yet another major mistake in her life when she had rashly greenlit their relationship.

Hanna shook off that thought. Everything would turn out all right now. She was feeling it, this time they would make it work forever. She wanted for them to be forever.

And at that, Hanna couldn't help but smile. A thrill of anticipation had started to spread out all over her body, knowing that in just a few minutes she would see his face again. The emotion was almost unreal to her, and she had to think twice if she should pinch herself to make sure it was indeed reality that Caleb was now here to stay.

In the meantime, a quiet pair of feet had entered the apartment, tiptoeing through the living-room, listening in on the noises filling the morning air. The shower was still running.

 _Perfect!_

Successively, two single shoes were being kicked off while following the path to the source of the running water.

With the swooshing blocking out all other sounds outside of her bathroom, Hanna stood oblivious to her impending visitor, still smiling to herself.

The footsteps neared the bathroom door. A hand encompassed the doorknob and quietly turned it to unlock. With the door click-shut back in its frame, the naked feet snuck across the bath rug and came to a halt. A small brown bag, a slightly bigger package in plain wrapping paper, and a coffee cup were put on the rack where the towels were neatly stacked.

Within just a few seconds, a dark-denim pair of pants and a white t-shirt fell to the floor, and Caleb pulled the shower curtain open, causing Hanna to shriek loudly with terror.

"Caleb? God, don't ever do that again!" She cried through the ongoing spray of water, punching him hard on the chest. The look of horror on her face instantly disappeared when she saw he was naked.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." He chuckled, the devious look in his eyes giving away that this was all part of his plan. Then he climbed into the bathtub and pulled her in for an embrace.

He watched her eyes darken, and then she slipped her arms around his neck, her lips meeting and moving moistly against his.

As he leaned deeper into that kiss, his lips opened and drew in her tongue deeply into the warmth of his mouth where it entwined with his own, his mind drifted back to this throwback part of their conversation the day before and he smiled wickedly against her mouth pressed tight against his.

Deepening the kiss still further, distracting her as he wrapped his arms around Hanna and pressed her tighter to him, he reached up a blind hand and hit his palm against the wall-mounted panel of switches and instantly heard Hanna shriek as a stream of ice cold water blasted out of the shower attachment and rained over them.

Gasping, Hanna clutched at his shoulders, again screaming his name: "Caleb!"

He cut off her breathy protest by pressing his lips down on hers again. Hanna moaned, her hands reaching up from where they kneaded desperately at his shoulders and entangling themselves in his hair.

The cold water had turned her nipples to stiff peaks, and Caleb appreciatively took in the sight in front of him.

"Sorry, again." He said with a mischievous grin on his lips. "Just cooling down my thoughts a little. You really had my blood pumping when you said you basically wanted to have your way with me."

And with that, he adjusted the water temperature to a pleasant degree of warmth.

His hands started to explore her back and shoulders and then slid downwards to rest against her butt. His own, deep groans of pleasure mingled with hers, then, breathing heavily now, he pushed himself slightly clear of her, putting his hands on her waist to turn her a little and lean her back against the tiled wall behind her.

Their lips met for a mind-shattering kiss, until Caleb broke the contact. "Do you know how long I've fantasized about doing this with you?" he said, hushed, against her neck as his lips made their way down to her collarbone and further down to the soft swell of her breasts.

Hanna arched her back, pressing her head against the hard tiles. His movements made her shiver despite the warm water rushing over her body.

"Fantassssss-ized?" She hissed as his lips hovered above one of her nipples, barely touching it. Her hand wove through his hair, grabbing hold of it in a sudden spur of arousal.

"After everything we've done these past three, four days, not to mention all those years we were dating before, you still have unresolved fantasies?", she whispered, nipping lightly at his ear and then forcing a loud moan from him as she sucked hard at his earlobe.

"Uh-huh", he rasped in reply, leaning his head back with closed eyes.

"But we've made love in the shower before, Caleb," she objected.

He continued to let his mouth explore more of her wet and warm body, still arched against his. "Mmmmmmmm, but not since we got back together," Caleb mumbled into her shoulder, going back to his teasing of the side of her throat. "We did it on the floor and on the couch… in our bed…" Hanna closed her eyes, laying her head back against the wall behind her.

"It's not where," Caleb added as he trailed soft, whispering caresses across one wet and naked shoulder. "It's how. That's my fantasy."

At that, she gave up every intention of seducing him and surrendered herself to his touch.

Caleb grabbed her gently by the arm and turned her around until he could press his body against her back, thereby rubbing his erection against her butt. He looped his arms around her and cupped her breasts with firm pressure.

Hanna's head fell back on its own volition, causing Caleb's head to move forward till his lips reached hers. She turned her head a little, so their lips could meet full-on. Then they let their tongues dart at each other, all the while the warm water kept washing over them.

Was this real? Or was she still dreaming her own fantasy that she'd had this morning before Caleb's phone had yanked her out of sleep, thus having kept her from fulfillment? She groaned loudly, heat pooling in her middle.

Suddenly, a loud commotion outside startled her back to reality.

"Was that a door?" She asked Caleb, who seemed unaware of anything other than the smooching noises he was producing.

"I didn't hear a door, babe," he replied with a hoarse voice.

Hanna listened closely, her body on high alert from years of experienced shock.

"Hanna?" a voice suddenly came through, bringing all movement to a halt and causing Caleb to press his hand on her mouth to keep her from revealing her presence, unawares in his state of carnal need that the shower was rushing and somebody had to be the one using it.

Hanna motioned her eyes, calling attention to the shower, and Caleb let go of her mouth.

The female voice sounded again: "Hanna, are you in there? I just came to check in on you, to see how you were holding up."

Hanna turned around in the bathtub and then it was her pressing a hand against Caleb's mouth.

"Uh-huh, I'm taking a shower."

"Yeah, I'm not deaf. Listen, I saw Caleb at the Brew this morning holding a bunch of red roses. Is he back with Spencer again?"

The voice had stopped short in front of the bathroom door, waiting for a reply. Restricted in his ability to move or speak, Caleb shot a deadly look in the direction of where the voice had just come.

"And why was your front door open? Do you let in just anybody these days?" Another rant of inquiries sounded through the door.

Trying her best to keep the nosy intruder out of her bathroom, Hanna yelled back: "I'll be right outside. Why don't you make yourself comfortable on the couch? The bathroom's a mess, and I really won't be long." She rolled her eyes in an effort to show Caleb how sorry she was for having to cut short their shower fantasy.

He looked disappointed. Like a big, soaked puppy, and it was all she could do not to throw herself at him.

But knowing there was no getting rid of her visitor without giving quick physical proof that she was alive and kicking, Hanna apologetically curled her lips and then mouthed "Sorry!" in his direction.

"Hanna? Whose button-down shirt is this? Did you sleep in Caleb's clothes again last night? Sweetie, you have got to kiss that guy goodbye, he's taken."

Hanna looked mortified, while Caleb just stood, trying hard not to burst out laughing at the absurdity of the moment, and the heck of a _déjà vu_ he was experiencing. His attempt failed, and his chuckling came muffled through Hanna's hand, causing her to chime in.

When the quiet sound of their laughter had subsided, he pulled her head close to press a small kiss on her lips. Then, above the ongoing sound of the shower, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell her I'm here!" and put his index finger on his lips imitating a muted shush, before turning the water off.

Hanna got out of the bathtub and dried herself off. Then she handed Caleb a new towel from the rack.

At that moment, she saw the items Caleb had put on the rack, and a smile appeared on her face.

Through the closed shower curtain, she handed him the coffee cup and one of the two pieces of Danish he must have bought at the Brew, before stepping out of the bathroom to greet Mona who was pacing Hanna's bedroom.

Hanna faced her with a tortured smile, closing the door behind her. Mona stopped pacing and held out Caleb's shirt to her with a questioning look on her face.

 _Oh, yeah._ He would just have to stick it out a little longer in there.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _Let me know what you think, I love reading all your comments! As always, thank you so much! Zip_


	6. Chapter 6 - FRIDAY midmorning

**Chapter 6 – FRIDAY, midmorning**

By the time, Mona had been brought up to speed about all the latest developments in Hanna's personal and professional affairs, it was already past 10:30 AM, and Caleb was becoming restless in the bathroom where he still sat on the edge of the tub, wrapped in his towel, biding his time.

He had long given up on his plan to lure Hanna back into the shower but instead had started to question if he would even be able to make it to work on time. He didn't want to take advantage of Ashley Marin's goodwill, but he didn't want to face Mona today either.

Or any day of this week, for that matter. She had a manner of running him down, he wasn't going to let her spoil his joy about being back with Hanna. Plus, if he left the bathroom in his condition just now and she'd find out that he had been waiting and hiding in there all this time, he feared she would gladly take him for a ride for a very long time.

Caleb quietly climbed out of the bathtub and reached for his pants that lay on the floor all crumpled-up. There, inside his back-pocket was his cell phone. He pulled it out and tossed the pants again. Then he stepped back inside the tub and opened his messenger app.

" _Really need to get ready for work ASAP. Plz get rid of Mona now."_

He sent Hanna the text and sat back down, waiting for her to release him from his voluntary confinement. All of a sudden, he saw a text message pop up on his screen.

" _U still hungry?"_

Caleb looked at his phone in bewilderment. _What the-?_

Two thoughts were running through his mind, both boiling down to one answer.

" _Very. Hurry up!"_

He smiled wickedly at his phone, thinking that if he could get out of the room within the next five minutes, he could have her for a quick second breakfast before heading out to work.

Then another text message followed.

" _Hope U saved that Danish for me!"_

He looked down at his phone dumbfoundedly and then over to the empty brown bag whose contents he had finished off an hour ago, thinking _Seriously, Hanna?_

But then he changed his mind and answered her text with a mischievous grin.

" _Been saving up sth better for you."_

They exchanged some more texts, teasing each other with sexual innuendoes until Caleb's patience almost reached its limit. But then he heard the door outside slam shut, followed by the immediate buzz of his cell phone.

" _She's gone."_

Caleb snuck to the door and opened it to check if Hanna was right. The apartment was quiet.

Then he went over to one of his travel bags that hadn't been unpacked the night before. His hand rifled through the contents and eventually fished out a fresh pair of boxers.

When he was fully dressed, he picked up the flowers from the rack in the bathroom and removed the thin paper that had been wrapped loosely around the stems. He found an empty vase in the bedroom, filled it up with water and arranged red and white roses in it. Then he paid special attention to the small card attached to one of the red roses by placing it prominently for her to see straight away, before putting the vase on her night table.

He looked proudly at his little arrangement that was meant to tide her over for the time he was at work. Then he headed over to the kitchen with his phone in one hand.

Hanna stood leaning against the countertop, sipping on a cup of coffee. "Hey. Do you have time for some coffee?"

He checked the clock on his phone. "I have five minutes before I have to leave", he said with a sad undertone, thinking about missed opportunities.

Hanna handed him her half-full cup and wrapped her arms around his waist. "So. Tell me again, why were you being all _Mona can't see me_ and _don't tell her I'm here_ this morning?" She frowned at him.

Caleb shrugged, saying: "A while back, Mona and I had done some research together to find out more about who's behind this whole A.D. bullshit. To this day, I can't tell whose side she's really on. You have to admit there have been some really strange coincidences." He looked at her with a serious expression, and she nodded in silence. "Hanna, this woman knows how I take my coffee, and I swear, I cannot remember ever having been on a coffee run with her!"

He took a sip of his coffee before continuing: "Sometimes she just gives me the creeps, that's all, you know. So, I hope you understand why I don't want her to walk in on my _I almost had sex_ face because I bet you, she would know, and judging by our current situation, I'd never hear the end of it."

Hanna chuckled: "Well, you're right about that. I don't like that either."

He shot her a questioning look, and she hurried to explain: "We should do something about the _almost_ part."

Caleb swallowed hard.

She took the cup from his hand to put it in the sink. Then she put her arms around his neck and tilted her head so she could nibble lightly at his earlobe before her face lit up and she eagerly asked him: "So. How much time before you really, really have to leave for work?"

There was something so enticing about her smile, he thought it would be his undoing.

"Ten minutes." His coarse voice revealed his excitement.

They exchanged a look in silent agreement. _That'll do._

Hanna lunged at him with her eyes closed, finding his lips instinctively. Their kisses grew hungrier and so they opened their mouths to let their tongues taste one another. Their hands started roaming each other's bodies, dipping underneath each other's shirts to feel as much soft skin as possible to spur their arousal.

Caleb freed one of his arms and blindly pushed the dishes to the side that had been piling up on the countertop. A clanging and clashing filled the room, mixing with a muffled thumping in the far distance.

Then he kissed her neck and shoulder, while Hanna's hands darted down to unbuckle his belt. Caleb lifted her up with a smooth move and placed her on the countertop before his lips connected with hers. Hanna opened her legs, and he pressed his groin against her lower body as she crossed her legs behind his butt.

The feeling of his hardened bulge caused Hanna to moan loudly.

A split-second later, her voice cut off abruptly, and her eyes opened wide in shock. Caleb noticed her sudden freeze and turned around to see what was startling her.

Lucas stood in the open front door, looking aghast.

Caleb instantly turned back around in embarrassment, avoiding Lucas' reproachful gaze, while Hanna found her voice again. "Lucas?! What are you doing here?"

"I knocked three times and then I heard dishes clashing, so I quickly unlocked the door to check if you were all right." Lucas' said almost apologetically with deeply red cheeks. "Sorry."

"Yeah. I meant, why are you here?" Hanna asked to change the topic.

"I came to check the kitchen appliances. My surveillance app alerted me that the vent doesn't operate properly."

Hanna and Caleb looked at each other and rolled their eyes. As Lucas strolled over to the kitchen to inspect the vent, Hanna made room for him and jumped off the countertop.

In the meantime, Caleb had closed his belt and straightened his shirt. Then Hanna escorted him to the front door. They leaned in for a goodbye kiss, and then Caleb left for work, while Hanna stood high and dry.

In a very quiet voice, she mumbled to herself sarcastically: "Great!"

After that, she mentally prepared herself for the impending inquiry about the design sketches she had promised to have finished for Lucas by now.

And it wasn't the first, nor last time today, she thought: _Damn, doesn't anybody use their phone anymore?_

 **XXXXX**

Caleb came home early in the evening. He had driven home as fast as he could with a short stopover at the _Szechuan Pagoda_ to pick up some takeout food for dinner.

Hanna had left the door unlocked for him, so was able to sneak in, wishing to see her surprised reaction when he got home this early and brought their favorite fried food. But when he opened the door, she was nowhere to be seen.

Caleb put the takeout boxes on the couch table and went to look for Hanna. He found her in the bathroom as she was doing her hair and makeup in front of the mirror. He paused at the doorframe and just watched her. She looked stunning in a loose dress with small floral designs. Her hair was done in a ponytail with a few loose streaks on both sides of her face.

After a moment, he walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the temple, not wanting to interfere with her makeup activities. "You look pretty! Do you have any plans for tonight?" He inquired, hoping she'd say no. "I brought some Chinese takeout for us."

Hanna concentrated on putting mascara on her eyelashes. When she was done with one eye, she paused to give him a sweet kiss and went on to answer his question: "Sorry, Caleb. I should have called you sooner, but it was kind of short notice for me, too. I'm meeting up with Aria, Emily and Alison tonight. We're going to have dinner at the Applerose Grille together and talk about some things. Aria is feeling kind of heart-broken because of Ezra and Nicole, so we thought we might have a little wine and cheer her up."

"Oh." Caleb's composure betrayed his disappointment. But then he looked at her cheerful face again and changed his mind. This was why he loved her so much. She always cared about her friends and tried to clear her schedule to help someone out. Not that they had so much as a schedule together yet. If it had been Hanna with a broken heart, he would have loved for her friends to be there for her just as well. He smiled at her while she was putting mascara on her other eye. "Well, that's nice of you."

When he saw that she was busy, he turned to leave. "All right, then it'll be just dinner for one. So… I'll go and slip into something more comfortable." At that, he left her alone and retreated to the bedroom.

Caleb got rid of his jeans and t-shirt. Then he opened the closet and pushed one hanger after another to the side, looking for a specific piece of clothing. When he couldn't find it in the closet, he scooped up his yet unpacked bags one by one and ransacked those, to no avail.

"Babe, have you seen my gym shorts? I can't find them in the bedroom." Caleb hollered through the bathroom door.

Hanna's head appeared in the ajar door: "I did the laundry earlier today. There's a basket with fresh clothes in Emily's room. Maybe it's there."

"Thanks," he shouted back on his way over to the other room. Hanna caught a glimpse of his sexy back that was quickly disappearing from her view. Immediately, she perked her eyebrows up in silent admiration. Checking the time on her phone, she sighed and returned to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Caleb perched on the floor in Emily's room, rifling through the loaded laundry basket. He found his gym shorts and got up to walk back to the bedroom.

He didn't get far. A few steps later, he turned a corner and bumped into Hanna. He grabbed her arms to keep her from stumbling.

After their short gasps of surprise had subsided, they grinned at each other.

"Sorry," came his response first.

"I'm not," was her reaction before she lunged herself at him.

"How much time before you have to leave?" He asked with a gleam in his eyes, mimicking the course of their conversation from this morning.

"Emily's going to pick me up in twenty minutes."

Caleb crossed his arms behind her, steadying their embrace.

"Well,-"

He kissed her on the cheek.

"-that-"

He kissed her on the earlobe.

"-is-"

He kissed her behind the ear.

"-plenty!"

He brought his face back to kiss her on the lips and started sliding his hands down her back to search for an opportunity to gain access to her skin beneath the dress. He simply pulled up her dress until the lengthy fabric was all crumpled up in one hand. Then he used his other hand to squeeze her bottom.

Hanna pressed her body against him and let her tongue dance around in his mouth. She could feel the well-known bulge in his boxers throb. She let her hands slide in and out of his hair, grasping for a hold in their sexual frenzy.

In the next breath, Caleb set his body in motion and pushed Hanna along with him. They stumbled through the living room back towards Emily's room, all the while keeping their lips connected in hard, demanding kisses.

As soon as they stepped through the doorframe, Caleb turned them to the side and pushed Hanna to the wall next to the door, sending a small picture frame to the ground.

When his hands erratically started roaming her front for access to her breasts, Caleb moaned with despair. He moved his hands further down her front below the bunched up fabric of her dress to try from there.

Hanna instantly gave a whimper of arousal as he succeeded in his mission. He cupped her breasts through her bra and tweaked her nipples, while at the same time, Hanna's hand had started to wander down his bare back all the way to his boxer shorts.

She dipped her fingers below the waistband and let them slide in, stroking over his butt and then over his waist to his front before she ended her cautious ministrations by clasping his erection in a firm grip, which caused Caleb to gasp and let out a strangled groan.

 _Wham!_ The front door of their apartment snapped shut with a loud thud.

Hanna and Caleb looked at each other on high alert. Within a split-second, their hands came back to the surface and both stood rooted to the spot when Emily appeared at the door to her room. Hanna rearranged her dress while Caleb quickly moved his hands down to cover up the bulge in his boxers.

"Em?!" they let simultaneously slip out. They looked deeply mortified and tried to slow down their irregular breathing.

"Ugh, guys? Seriously? In my room?" Having taken in the sight in front of her, Emily didn't look too thrilled. "Look, just because I agreed to Caleb living here, it doesn't mean that I like watching you… two... do… this… do… each other-" She pointed at the two of them together as she failed to find the right words to finish her sentence.

"Sorry!" said both with compressed lips. But then Caleb found the humor in this situation. After all, this had been the third time today that somebody had walked in on them during foreplay.

"Do you want me to put a sock on our door next time?" He asked with a wink.

"This isn't college, Caleb. At least, I want you to spare my room, please." Emily insisted in a harsh tone, but ultimately her voice softened when she saw how Caleb pulled Hanna closer to show Emily they were in this together. "You both know I'm really happy that you're back together. But if you have to be all over each other all the time, there are so many other places you can go."

Hanna and Caleb shared a meaningful look that didn't fail to be noticed by Emily, too. She rolled her eyes and eventually grabbed a jacket from her closet.

When she saw that Hanna was leaning her head against Caleb's shoulder, she finally buckled. "All right, you two lovebirds. I'm going to stay with Alison for just a few more days." Then she turned on her heels and strolled into the living room, smiling wickedly. "Go knock yourselves out while I'm gone."

Hanna followed behind her and put on her high heels. Caleb had stayed in the guest room to put on his gym shorts, at last, and came out into the living room when the girls were donning their jackets.

"Have a good time together." He walked over to Hanna to give her kiss. "Call me if you need a ride home."

Hanna smiled at him and reasoned: "Don't wait up for me."

He stood and smiled back at her: "You know I will anyway."

Continuing their little game, Hanna carried on: "You know I wish you would."

Emily was standing in the open door, getting restless. She checked her watch and decided to tease Hanna: "Hanna? Are you coming?"

At that, Hanna kissed him one more time and whispered in his ear: "Save me some Dong Po, will you?"

Caleb scoffed and chuckled. "Not a chance." Then he saw the girls out the door and returned to the bedroom to put on the rest of his comfy clothes.

 **XXXXX**

Hanna and Emily walked down the staircase chatting. In an attempt to keep the conversation away from her own jumbled mind, Emily inquired: "So, you and Caleb seem to be having a great time, huh? Isn't it awkward after all these years? I mean, the sex?" She shyly whispered the last word when one of the neighbors passed them in the hallway.

"No, not at all. It's better than ever. You know, that fireplace in the living room…? Hanna said cheerfully and winked at her.

"You didn't?" Emily looked at her wide-eyed. And kind of envious.

"Oh, we did. Three times that one night, actually." She started to giggle and went on to explain as she saw Emily's exasperated look. "We made up on the pillows by the fireplace last week. It was the best night of my life." Her eyes had taken on a dreamy expression.

"Okay, ew. TMI, Hanna." Emily increased her pace and walked ahead, speaking more to herself than to Hanna: "I can never look at that fireplace again!"

Hanna heard her anyway and had to chuckle. She followed her to the car, and a few moments later, they drove away to meet Alison and Aria at the Applerose Grille.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _Voilà. This is a rather short chapter due to the fact that after I'd finished the entire FRIDAY chapter, I decided to split it because it was so long. Stick with me, I think the next one will be so worth the wait. ;-)_

 _For those of you requesting more interaction with Mona, Emily or any of the other liars... I apologize but I'm just not that invested in those characters to come up with good storylines or conversations to incorporate. Hope you liked the chapter anyway. Let me know, constructive criticism is always welcome. Zip_


	7. Chapter 7 - FRIDAY night

_I left you kind of bummed out at the end of chapter 6, didn't I? I promise this next chapter makes it all worthwhile. ;-)_

 **XXXXX**

 **Chapter 7 – FRIDAY night**

The cab pulled to the curb in front of Hanna's apartment building. She paid her fare and got out of the car. Then she quietly walked inside the house and all the way up to her front door. She checked her phone to see if Caleb was still online.

He wasn't.

No surprise floor show by the door like she had been planning it in her tipsy condition. After Emily and Alison had left the restaurant, Hanna and Aria had ordered another bottle of red wine and were dishing out about each other's love lives. Aria had confided her troubles with Ezra in her, drowning her sorrow in lots of alcohol, while Hanna had tried to stay low-key. She had nothing to complain about right now.

Seeing Caleb had last been online half an hour ago, she felt a slight stab of disappointment in the pit of her stomach. She had been looking forward to finding him on the couch, still awake and waiting for her with that irresistible smile on his face.

But he seemed to be asleep already. Hanna sighed and pulled her keys out of her purse and tried to open the door as quietly as she could manage so she wouldn't wake him.

The apartment was dark and utterly silent. For a moment, Hanna hesitated, thinking if she should rather make some noise in order for Caleb to come out of the bedroom so she wouldn't have to cross the dark living room alone and sneak into an even darker bedroom, afraid of what she might find in there.

You could never be sure these days.

But then she shook off the feeling and tried to remember some of the techniques she'd read about in her self-help book last night. She failed due to her slightly clouded mind.

Suddenly, she saw the Chinese take-out boxes neatly stacked on the kitchen counter and her heartbeat slowed down a little, assured that Caleb would most definitely be safe and sound in their bed.

 _Their bed._

The thought alone triggered her adrenaline to kick in, and she set her body in motion to walk all the way to where their bedroom adjoined to the living room.

Just a few steps later she noticed that the bedroom door had been left ajar, and a narrow stream of light came shining through the door crack.

So he was still awake after all? Her heart skipped a beat, and Hanna instinctively began combing through her hair with her fingers but dropped it, remembering how Caleb had told her that he liked her hair when it wasn't perfectly trimmed.

She pulled the door open and paused at the sight in front of her.

There he was, lying on his half of the bed with his eyes closed, propped up on his pillow, an open book clutched to his chest, breathing evenly and… wearing…. glasses?

Hanna furrowed her brows. She wasn't that drunk. _Was she?_

When did he get glasses? _What else am I going to find out about this man?_

The peaceful look on his face made her smile. So, is this what it was going to be like for the rest of their lives? With him trying to stay up until she would come home late at night after she had been out with the girls alone?

Another sigh slipped from her mouth. Then she took a step forward to cross the distance between her and Caleb.

But suddenly, Hanna stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the part of the book title that wasn't covered by his arms and hands.

"… _Trauma…"_

Trauma?

 _Oh no!_

A look of terror appeared on her face, and she ultimately turned her eyes to the drawer of her night table.

It was open.

She winced at the idea that Caleb might have found her secret hiding place. For a second, her knees seemed to go weak, and she had to sit down to keep herself from falling.

She sat on the floor leaning against the bedside, thoughts running through her mind.

She hadn't meant for Caleb to find out like this. Like she was still keeping secrets from him. She had wanted to tell him about her trauma therapy and her self-help book. She wanted to be able to look him in the eyes and explain how she had ordered the book many weeks ago in the wake of her breakup with Jordan… when the loneliness of her empty apartment had almost overwhelmed her with fear.

A single tear had emerged from her eye. The feeling of regret was nagging at her. At this moment, she wasn't even able to tell why she had kept the book secret at all.

 _If you love somebody you should be able to tell them anything._

Didn't she use to say that?

Her mind was thrown back to that moment some time ago when her doctor had confronted her with a diagnose. All those nightmares, all those fears in the most unpredictable situations… They had made Hanna feel so powerless, so bereaved of her self-confidence. She had seen her life falling apart. The shed, the torment, her breakup, Caleb and Spencer together, A.D. closing in… She had had to take action to keep herself from breaking down altogether.

Hanna turned her head around to look at Caleb's face again. Wiping away another tear, she smiled at him. Relief was washing over her that she didn't have to hide anything from him anymore. She knew she had no reason to be ashamed.

She got up from the floor and started undressing. Every so often she looked up to check if he would open his eyes. At that, she suddenly saw that it wasn't her book he was holding. Hers was still inside of the drawer, in plain sight. She just hadn't seen in before. But she was convinced that he on the other hand had.

It dawned on her that he was reading an entirely different book! And he had already read through two-thirds, judging by the small bookmarks that had been inserted every few pages.

With the slightest touch possible, Hanna removed the book from his clutch. She hesitated for a second when Caleb stirred in his sleep. But when he lay still again, she turned it around to read the cover: _"A Practical Guide to Understanding and Connecting with Your Partner after Trauma"._

A sudden wave of love seemed to overwhelm her, and she tried hard to fight back her tears. She got all choked up thinking of how much Caleb seemed to care about her.

She flipped the book open to where he had last read to put another bookmark inside. Then she put it in the drawer, right next to hers.

After she had snuck into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she turned off the ceiling light and flicked on a considerably less blinding night light by her bedside.

She got under the covers and for a long moment, she just lay there staring at the ceiling in rapt amazement. Suddenly, she felt very clear in her head, all signs of tipsiness gone. _God, she loved this man._ She loved him with all her heart.

Then she turned to lie on her side and watched his sleeping shape. As she carefully tried to remove his glasses, Caleb gave a start and opened his eyes.

"Oh hey, baby", he said lovingly. "I must have fallen asleep. How long have you been staring at me?"

Hanna chuckled: "I just got in." She held out his glasses for him. "How long have you had these?"

"About a year." He spoke with a calm voice, glad to see her face after she had been out and about at night time. "They're reading glasses, that's why you've probably never seen them on me." He chuckled. "Did you have a good time with the girls?"

"Yeah, it was all right. I had to take Aria home first and tuck her in, she drank way too much. It's really too bad how things with Ezra are going at the moment. And then, you know, Spencer should have been there, too. It wasn't the same without her."

"I'm pretty sure they're going to release her from the hospital soon." He tried to make her feel better, and she smiled weakly at him.

"So, what have you been doing while I was out?" She asked tentatively.

"Um," he tried to remember in a state of drowsiness. "Let's see… I ate all the Dong-Po for dinner, did some research for potential job openings… a little bit of reading." His eyes searched the room for his book but failed. "Where did you put it?" his last question sounded, and he looked at her in anxious anticipation.

"I put it in the drawer." Hanna paused, avoiding his gaze. "Where did you get that book?"

"Toby gave it to me. He said that it helped him a lot after what happened to Spencer at the dollhouse." Caleb looked down at the glasses in his hand. Then he bent over to his side, put them on the bedside table and settled back against his pillow.

"Hanna, you know that you can talk to me about anything, right? I care about you more than I care about myself and I just want to help you." He looked at her intently, but she ignored him.

When she remained silent, he pursued his efforts to get a response from her. "Are you mad at me? That I'm reading this book, I mean?" His voice had taken on a sad undertone and his gaze was fixed on her fragile frame, waiting for her eyes to reconnect.

His question had struck a chord, he could see it in her eyes staring into the far distance, fighting to blink back a tear. He anxiously swallowed down a lump in his throat.

He had been wondering about how Hanna had dealt with her mental state following all the horrific experiences she'd had to endure after A. or A.D. had stepped into her life. He had wished for her to have some kind of an outlet, some other confidant whom she could pour her heart out to.

He had been too afraid to touch the subject, unsure of how she would react if he confronted her with his observations. He had learned early on in their relationship, back when they had still been in high school, that Hanna would build walls around her heart in order to protect herself. It had taken a lot of effort from his side to get past those walls.

And just because she had let him in once, it didn't mean that she was ready to do that again.

His question lingered in the air, unanswered until Hanna turned around and looked up, right into his warm brown eyes.

She saw it. A fear, and if she knew one thing about Caleb Rivers, it was that he usually wasn't afraid of anything. It was the same fear she had felt just a couple of minutes ago when she had thought he had been reading her book.

Suddenly, she remembered some wise words Spencer had once told her.

 _Sometimes people wanna tell you things, but they can't look you in the eye and say it. Because they're afraid of what you'll think of them._

What had she been afraid of? He was the most understanding person in her life, and the most caring. He wouldn't have thought any less of her if she had told him. She was sure about that now. She wanted him to be that person… the one person she could tell anything. He just needed to know.

Hanna lifted her upper body to a sitting position. There was only one answer she could think of.

She closed the distance between them and brought their lips together for a tender kiss. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the surprised look on his face. She put her hand on his face and gently stroked over his jawline. Then she spoke with a sincere voice: "I love you, Caleb."

He exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding. His gaze unwavering, he said it back: "I love you, too."

For a long time, they simply stared at each other, trying to grasp the significance of this moment. Then their mouths found each other in the warm glow of the night light.

Caleb eventually broke the kiss, breathing her name "Hanna!" before letting his forehead drop against hers.

Through a thin veil of tears, her eyes smiled at him. As she sobbed and sniffled quietly, he brought his hand to the back of her head and pulled up her face so he could kiss her again.

While keeping his lips in touch with hers, Caleb pushed the covers away. He wanted her to be his blanket for the rest of the night.

When their kiss broke, he saw that she was only wearing panties and a flimsy tank top.

Hanna looked at him with hazy eyes. On the spur of the moment, she raised her arms above her head. Instinctively, his hands grabbed the hem of her tank top and lifted it over her arms. Then he tossed it on the floor and took in her sight.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered.

Hanna smiled and reached for him, pulling him in for a searing kiss. As his mouth explored hers, his free hand wandered a path from her hip upward, tracing random patterns along her stomach and side before reaching the underside of her breast. He traced the swell with a feather-light touch until Hanna arched and moaned beneath him, making it clear what she wanted. His hand covered her breast, squeezing gently and rolling her hard nipple between his fingers, making it even harder.

His lips left hers again, kissing their way through the cleft between her breasts and then around their soft undersides. Hanna threaded her fingers through his hair, urging him wordlessly. He capitulated easily, covering her breast with open-mouthed kisses before capturing the peak and sucking gently, his tongue trailing along her sensitive skin.

All at once, the contact was broken and Hanna whimpered in protest. But her cries became whimpers of pleasure when his mouth found her other nipple and gave it similar treatment.

After a minute, he shifted beside her, removing his mouth from her breast and trailing a meandering path over her ribs to her stomach.

At that point, Hanna took over control by gently pushing his body down on the mattress.

"Nobody's gonna come in here. I locked the door. Twice." She smiled wickedly when she saw that he was hesitating. Then she whispered: "Just lie down and relax."

He followed her instructions, sinking back into the bed, lifting his arms to rest them above his head. Hanna's trail of kisses found its way to his bellybutton and her tongue darted out to explore the shallow dip, eliciting a soft groan of pleasure. Then she moved lower. He lifted his hips automatically, aching for her touch. The thin material of his boxers could not hide his excitement, and he longed for her touch on his naked skin.

Hanna knelt next to him, and he lifted his hips slightly so she could tug his boxers down with shaking hands due to her own agitation. After his underwear had been tossed on the floor, Hanna quickly shimmied out of her panties herself.

Then she worked her way back up his frame, her fingers drifting lightly over all his trembling body. Toes, ankles, calves – he was perfectly formed. In spite of his obvious arousal, he seemed content to let her explore. When she brushed her fingertips over his knee he shivered.

Hanna scratched her nails lightly through the hair covering the muscles of his thighs until she was back where she had started. She took a quick peek at his face – his eyes were heavy-lidded with arousal and she felt a surge of confidence that she was having this effect on him. She ran her fingers slowly up the length of him, circling them lightly over the velvet-soft skin of the tip, causing him to shiver again. Hanna loosely wrapped her hand around him, while nervous excitement tightened her belly.

Both eager and flustered that it wouldn't be too much longer before they were joined, Hanna leaned down to kiss his mouth. At first, their kiss was slow, almost chaste. Hanna realized that he was letting her take the lead. She deepened the kiss and straddled him, lowering her body to his so she could feel the solid heat of his erection against her. She moved against him, enjoying the friction.

She lifted up, her thighs quivering slightly in anticipation as she took hold of his erection again. He was slick from her arousal. Hanna grinned at him as she guided the tip of his erection to her entrance. She faltered for a moment at the sensation and then pressed down. She sighed at the pleasurable stretch as his body filled hers.

"Open your eyes," he whispered. She complied, struggling to focus. When she met his gaze, her heart clenched. Through the mist of arousal and passion, she saw love and tenderness. "I love you," he whispered, holding her gaze as he eased into her slowly until he was sheathed to the hilt, filling her completely.

Hanna rose and took a deep breath before sinking onto him again with a slow exhale.

Caleb watched in wordless wonder as she moved on top of him. He had missed her, had missed this, more than he had realized. He had missed the way her hair fell over her eyes, swinging and swaying as her body rocked. He had missed the way her eyes half-closed as she concentrated. The way her mouth opened, her lips swollen from their kisses. He had missed the sensation of her fingers smoothing over his skin. He had missed the pressure of her hands braced flat on his chest. Had missed the delicate patterns her nipples traced in his palms as he cupped her breasts. He wanted to show her everything she meant to him.

Caleb grasped her hips, drawing her down firmly as he thrust up.

"Oh god," Hanna moaned.

She circled her hips on her next downward movement. She repeated the motion yet again, and when she heard a muffled whimper, she wasn't sure if it was she or Caleb who had made the noise. "You like that?" she asked, delighted by both the sensation and his reaction.

"God, yes." His eyes closed. "Don't stop."

She watched his responses as she varied the speed and pressure of her thrusts. When she clenched her inner muscles, his head tossed restlessly on the pillow.

And then he sat up. This new position drove him in to the hilt at a steeper angle and Hanna moaned at how amazing that felt. Caleb took hold of her back, thrusting up sharply as she lowered her body on his. Hanna moved her legs and crossed them behind his back. Now he was able to sway their aligned bodies together more freely, allowing for different angles and heightened sensation.

"Oh!" she gasped, as he drove, smooth and deep, into her while at the same time bending down to suckle on one of her nipples. "Oh my god, just like that."

When Caleb reclined and changed the angle, Hanna wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face below his chin, and inhaled the heady scent of their mingled arousal. The slide and press of her breasts against his chest was electrifying. His hips rocked, steadily and relentlessly increasing the pressure building inside her.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the stretch and lift and rock and heat of his body buried inside hers. The first tug of an impending orgasm tightened her spine. Hanna stiffened, trying to catch hold of the sensation, but it dissipated.

She let out a strangled groan that turned into a deep-throated cry of relief when he cupped one of her breasts and started to roll the nipple between his thumb and index finger.

All sense of time left her and it seemed like an eternity, yet way too soon, when she felt her orgasm rushing toward her. Her breath caught in her chest as leaned forward just a little more, increasing the friction between them and sending her over the edge. Her fingernails dug deep into his shoulder, grasping for a hold on his sweaty body. Beneath her, she felt Caleb take over, thrusting into her a handful of times before crying out and releasing, filling her.

Caleb rode out his own climax that he had been holding for her until their bodies went slack and fell back down on the mattress.

Hanna lay with her head resting in the crook of his neck, still breathing raggedly. The only thought her mind was capable of thinking was how this moment right here and now felt like coming home.

"I love you." She repeated what was written all over her heart, whispering it into his ear. In response, Caleb tenderly stroked over her back, all the way down over the delicate curve of her butt, causing her to stretch her legs until she was sprawled on top of him, covering him like a blanket.

They held each other for a long time as the ripples of pleasure subsided, leaving them satisfied and fulfilled, hands resting on soft skin, just holding on.

He started to shift, but she stopped him before he could roll away, savoring the reality of his body so close to hers for another moment.

Eventually, he rolled to his side, taking her with him, and they lay together in a jumbled pile of limbs for an indefinable period, drifting between wake and sleep.

Finally, the heat of their passion cooled and the night air caused Hanna to shiver. Caleb rubbed his hands up and down her arms to warm them for just a second. Then their lips met in a short soft kiss.

As Caleb settled down under the covers, Hanna got up and went into the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later and saw that Caleb had already dozed off.

She put her panties back on and quietly surrounded the bed. When she came to her side, she glanced at the flower bouquet that Caleb had bought for her the morning after another one of her nightmares, and her vision was drawn to the little card attached to one of the red roses. She read through the words, written in a familiar scrawl, leaving her bewildered.

" _You can always_ _count_ _on me. CR"_

Meaningful words. They conjured a smile on her face. How could she have doubted him? She read the card again, thinking hard to find a second yet hidden meaning.

In the next instant, her eyes took in the flowers again, searching for a pattern.

Eleven red roses.

Five white roses.

And suddenly, it dawned on her.

 _The pattern!_

She couldn't believe it. After all these years… He still remembered?!

Eleven and five. November fifth. It had been their beginning. The beginning of everything, actually.

Her fingers played with the little card. Flipping it over, she found a neat imprint.

" _Hold my hand and let's walk to infinity_

 _On this road of love, joy and serenity._

 _You complete me… You're my period, my exclamation point._

 _There is no question mark, we are a team, we are joint."_

It made her heart explode with love. She felt touched. All those sweet little gestures, everything he said, the way he looked at her all the time, the way he always made sure she didn't miss out in bed together... Everything was proof to the point that he truly did love her, and the realization just now filled her with deep contentment.

She struggled to keep the tears from falling. Once more she thought of a funny need to pinch herself. Being back with Caleb again was all she had wished for. And so much more. Like a dream…

 _But if it really was one…._ She didn't want to be woken up.

Hanna put the card on her night table and got under the covers, too. Then she snuggled into him, resting her head on his shoulder and flinging one arm across his chest.

"I know it's way too tacky, but I saw it at the flower shop, and it made me think of you", came Caleb's drowsy voice from beneath her.

Hanna swallowed and lay absolutely still in his arms, relishing the safety of his arms around her. Then she quietly said: "I love it."

They lay side by side without speaking, almost surrendering to sleep until Hanna's voice broke the silence. "Caleb?"

"Hm?" came his mumbled response.

"Thank you," she murmured into his chest.

"You're welcome." He gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead.

"Not just the card." It was barely a whisper. "Thank you for always looking out for me."

He wanted to say something but she stopped him by gently laying her forefinger on his lips. After another minute in silence, her face turned around so she could see him. She took in his facial features for a long moment, gently drawing invisible lines along his jawbone and the shape of his lips with her finger before she softly approached him again.

"Caleb?" She hesitated to see if he was still awake. When he stirred slightly to rest his hand on her head she ventured on.

"This… The look on your face right now? Promise me, you'll always save it for me, okay?"

Remembering their conversation about a certain _almost_ face, he smiled inwardly. Then he opened his eyes one more time and looked at her intently: "Just for you, baby."

After they had shared another passionate kiss, both succumbed to sleep, letting the dream go on…

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _See, I can't torture them for too long. This chapter basically wrote itself, it was such a blast. I'd like to say that at this point, it's my favorite chapter. Especially, after the last one was kind of a let-down - smut-wise. LOL_

 _I really hope you enjoyed reading it. As always, reviews are highly appreciated. Thank you so much! Zip_

 _Lastly, credit where credit is due: the poem was written by Paris Joy Ector. I found this by accident and thought it fits the situation perfectly. And we know about Caleb's infatuation with exclamation points... ;-)_


	8. Chapter 8 - SATURDAY morning

**Chapter 8 - SATURDAY morning**

The next day, Caleb awoke with a start. He was still lying naked in their bed, and an uncomfortable coldness had yanked him from a very enjoyable dream. He grunted and lifted his head to quickly check the situation.

 _Was it morning yet?_

He saw Hanna sleeping peacefully right next to him, all bundled up in the covers, leaving him with nothing more than a ten-inch stretch of blanket to cover up himself.

Yawning, he reached for his watch on the night table and moaned when he saw that it was only 6:33 AM. It was Saturday, and he flinched at the fact that waking up at this time of day usually meant he would not be able to go back to sleep, especially since Hanna was hoarding all the warmth on her side of the bed.

Caleb considered his options. Tearing on the blanket would mean waking up Hanna.

At 6:34 AM.

 _Not a good idea._

He opted to take a quick shower and surprise Hanna with another lazy breakfast in bed. This was going to be their real first weekend back as a couple, and he was planning to make it worthwhile. But he had already sprung a lot of surprises on her in the past days, so he made a mental note to involve her more in mapping out their free time together.

Carefully shifting on the bed as to not wake his girlfriend, he put his feet on the ground and sat on the edge of the bed for a while, trying to keep his heavy-lidded eyes open. Then he got up and walked to the adjoining bathroom to start his morning routine.

Standing under the hot spray of water, he was reminded of the many failed attempts to get closer to Hanna the day before. A tad of regret that he hadn't woken Hanna anyway came to his mind, wishing she would be there with him now.

 _In the shower._

He closed his eyes, and just thinking of her wet body entangled with his made his situation almost unbearable.

He'd bet a lot of money that none of their friends would come by and disturb them this early in the morning. The thought came and dissipated, futile as it was at that very moment.

"Aaaah," came his suppressed shriek.

Within an instant, the hot water had changed to a degree of freezing cold following Caleb's need to keep his body under control after thinking about mathematical functions or the periodic system hadn't done the trick for him.

This was better. And it was working.

After finishing his shower and drying off, Caleb grabbed some random clothes from the closet and got dressed. Before leaving the apartment, he quickly wrote a note for Hanna and put it on his pillow, in case she would wake up while he was still out getting breakfast.

 **XXXXX**

Hanna lazily stretched herself and shifted to turn around so she could cuddle with Caleb again. When she didn't want to open her eyes just yet, her arm came out to feel for Caleb's position next to her. But it fell on his empty and cold spot on the mattress, causing her to shoot up to check out his whereabouts. Instinctively, she called out his name.

"Caleb?"

But then she saw the little note he had left there for her and ultimately calmed down.

"Breakfast in bed? Be right back. CR" A smile spread on her face. Hanna laid back down and waited for him to return.

After twenty minutes, she was getting restless. Where in the world had he gone to get breakfast? _The Brew_ was only a mile ride into town.

Her mind was racing. Maybe he didn't take the car, but jogged to the _Brew_ instead?

 _Nah!_

She scratched that option from her list of possible explanations.

Maybe he had found a new breakfast location she didn't know about? She checked her phone to see if he had sent her a text message to explain his delay, but the display was empty.

Hanna hated being this paranoid. She had always been a rather wary person, especially since she'd had to deal with A and A.D., but her current mental state was taking her to higher levels of anxiety, and it scared her to death being in the unknown about the people she loved most in her life.

Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, and she desperately tried to reason with herself, coming up with more explanations like a traffic jam, a long queue at the coffee shop or maybe he had run into a familiar face on the way.

Before long, and before Hanna could send him her text asking what was holding him up, Hanna heard the door to their apartment slam shut.

"Hanna? Are you up?" came Caleb's cheerful voice from across the living room, traveling loudly all the way to their bedroom. If she hadn't been awake yet, he wanted to make sure she would be now.

"Yeah, I'm up." She yelled back and paused before taking on a mild tone of annoyance, "What took you so long? You've been gone for almost an hour. The _Brew_ is only five minutes away."

Ignoring the third degree, Caleb quickly kicked off his shoes and stormed into the bedroom with a broad smile on his face. "Good morning!" He moved over to her bedside and sat down to greet her with a passionate kiss on the lips.

"Caleb?" Hanna didn't waver but instead frowned at him. "Where were you?"

"Baby, stop worrying about me all the time." He cupped her chin and pulled her in for another sweet kiss. "Everything's fine. Better than fine, actually." His excitement made his warm brown eyes shine, and Hanna's curiosity was starting to grow.

"Why? What's going on?" Hanna couldn't possibly think of anything good that could happen to her this early on a Saturday morning, other than lying beside Caleb and doing… stuff. But she saw the spark in his eyes and didn't want to spoil his good mood, so she tried to contain her skepticism.

"I was at this new French bakery ten miles out east looking for some new breakfast pastries to surprise you with."

She looked at him bluntly, "And?"

"And I ran into my old boss." He smiled at her, pausing for effect.

When he didn't give more information, Hanna furrowed her brows. "Aaaand?"

"Well, he offered me my old job now that I'm in town again." Caleb beamed at her.

Shoving away the stab in her heart by being reminded of the reason why he had left Rosewood with her so many years ago to make her dreams come true, she argued, "But you already work for my mom. Do you want to quit your job at the Radley?"

"Han, as much as I love your mom, checking the surveillance system and being your mom's handyman for everything technical at the hotel is not my idea of a perfect job. Plus, I could make so much more money if I went back to my old job." He tried to convince her.

"What kind of job is it?" came her curious response. She had lost track of his technical abilities, never having been able to tell what his real profession was, sometimes due to restrictions passed on by his bosses. But she wanted to show some interest. Just as much as he was constantly trying to back up her decision to go into business together with Lucas.

"Well, he didn't really want to go into details yet, but instead he gave me something." He paused to get up and pull a slightly crumpled sheet of paper from his pants' back pocket. He handed it to her and sat back down, waiting for her reaction with a giddy smile on his face.

"What is this? An invitation?" She hesitated to finish reading the fine imprint on the white piece of paper with gold ornaments. "He's inviting us to his twenty-fifth wedding anniversary? But that's-"

Caleb cut her off, reasoning: "Yeah, he invited us kind of last-minute, but he also asked me to come and talk to him about that job opening, and, Hanna, I really want to go." His voice becoming softer, he continued, "Look, I know it's today and it's out of town. And I know that you hate being thrown into cold water like this. But after the day we had yesterday, I feel like we should accept the offer and get away for the weekend?" Pointing his head to the door, he spoke, "This place feels like a hostel with revolving doors, Hanna. There's always people barging in without calling in advance."

She looked away, seeing he was right about their lack of privacy lately.

Like reading her mind, he added: "And I don't want to lock myself up with you in our bedroom. Or in a car, like we used to."

Hanna looked at him, chuckling: "But you want to lock yourself up with me in a hotel room instead?"

His face taking on a serious expression, Caleb took her hand and shook his head: "Hanna, I want to go out with you, like, on a date. I want to dance with you, put on some nice fancy clothes for you, drink some champagne and I want to show you off and tell everybody I meet that you are my girlfriend."

Watching his glistening eyes jump back and forth between her face and their interlocked hands, Hanna couldn't help herself but smile at him. "Caleb, you hate champagne."

"That's not my point," he reasoned, "What I'm trying to say is-"

His eyes searched for hers, trying to pour as much love into his gaze as he could. "I love you and I want to do all those things because I know that you like doing them."

Her gaze faltered, touched by his sincere words. But before she could say something, Caleb went on to elaborate, "Plus, it's only a two-hour drive, and Mitch, I mean my old boss, had a last-minute cancellation so there's a nice hotel suite waiting there for us at the Serene Meadows Golf Resort and we don't even have to pay for it." He chuckled, thinking that sometimes the best things just fall into your lap without having to try hard.

In typical Hanna Marin style, always trying to have the last word, she enquired with a small smile playing around her lips: "Will you put on a nice tuxedo for me?"

"I'll do anything you want me to this weekend. Since I ate your Danish yesterday, I also thought I might have to repay you."

"Oh, I'll think of some other ways of how you could repay me." She said with a wink.

He instantly got the notion and climbed onto the bed, positioning himself next to her. His hands started roaming her soft skin where it would show from underneath the covers.

"Like this?" came his hoarse voice, whispering into her ear when he leaned over to her without stopping his soothing ministrations. When he felt he could never get enough of her, he removed the covers to reveal her perfect body, still clad in that tank top and a pair of lace panties.

In mock stubbornness, Hanna teased him: "Oh, I don't know. They do make excellent Danishes at the _Brew_. Try better."

Caleb moved his hands lower, grazing the inner sides of her thighs, and Hanna closed her eyes and started to arch her back from the sensation of his touch. Instinctively, she stretched out her arms, expecting a jolt of electricity and eventually feeling it when his fingers brushed her panties aside and stroked over her folds.

"More like this?" he wanted to know.

"Well, that's better. But you ate not only one but both of my Danishes, right?" She looked at him with glazed eyes, heavy with passion.

His mouth began showering little butterfly kisses on the stretch of skin between her breasts while his hands dipped below the hem of her tank top and moved higher along her side until his thumbs reached the underside of her breasts and came to a stop.

"How about this?

Since he denied her the feeling of his hands cupping her breasts, Hanna whispered: "More! Way more!"

At that, Caleb removed his hands from her body and simply tore the superfluous piece of clothing over her head. In a sudden urge, he swung himself off the bed and quickly got rid of his t-shirt, jeans and boxers.

Then he climbed back on the bed and came to hover over her body. He pulled back his head a little so he could look into her eyes.

With his passion for her clearly visible, he murmured huskily: "I'll give you everything I have."

Within two seconds, he brought their bodies together in a warm skin to skin embrace while gently brushing his lips against hers.

She heard his ragged intake of breath. A moment later, his warm hand cupped her left breast. After a searing kiss, Hanna pulled in a tight, quick breath. She wrapped her hands around the back of his head, holding him down to her and twining her fingers in his hair.

After a searing kiss, Hanna pulled in a tight, quick breath. She wrapped her hands around the back of his head, holding him down to her and twining her fingers in his hair.

Her mind swirled, and suddenly she felt Caleb slip away. He kissed her sternum before grazing her right nipple with his tongue. He looked up at her through his eyelashes as he sucked her breast into his mouth. Hanna grit her teeth as his suckling sent waves of bliss radiating through her chest. He released her. Hanna breathed in quickly before he began teasing her left breast, and before her eyelids fluttered shut.

Caleb slid further down her body, lowering his knees onto the floor before he gently pulled her panties down over her legs, eventually tossing them on the floor. He used his hands to press her thighs apart, shifting his gaze and making his intention clear. Hanna's eyes widened, and then she squeezed them shut. She let her head fall back against the bed, awaiting his move.

He brushed a thumb over her folds again, stroking gently, teasing lightly. A finger wound its way through her lips, finding and then circling her clit. And then she felt his wet tongue flatten against her. She let her legs fall open wider, readying herself for him to do more.

Hanna's mind screamed in ecstasy, drowning in the sensation. But Caleb's oral pleasure was relentless – it felt so good and tickled so much. Despite her best efforts, Hanna started to squirm uncontrollably. Caleb looked back up, longing to see the arousal on her face. He watched her in awe as she was biting her lower lip, savoring the pleasure and pain of almost falling over the edge both at the same time.

Caleb moved back up her body. He hovered over her, his hips aligned with hers, his hands pressed against the mattress near her shoulders. Then he kissed her, running his tongue over her lower lip, seeking invitation. Hanna tilted her head and parted her lips, unwilling to deny him.

As their tongues lapped against each other, Caleb lowered his hips and slid himself inside her, her juices easing the way. Hanna moaned with impatience and ran her hands up the sides of his arms to insinuate her urgency. Caleb withdrew, and so Hanna squeezed his upper arms again until he thrust into her again, deeper and almost up to the hilt.

Caleb held himself steady, as if waiting for something. Hanna opened her eyes and saw Caleb's lovingly dazed stare. His lips were swollen from kissing and slightly parted. The look on his face was almost enraptured.

"Hanna," he whispered.

Hanna nodded. "I know," she whispered back.

He felt the strong need to say it to her anyways, "I love you."

Hanna cupped his cheeks with her hands. "I love you, too."

Caleb used his right hand to push Hanna's hand away from his face. Her arm fell backwards against the mattress to the side of her head, and Caleb intertwined their fingers. He rocked his hips, thrusting against her, balancing his weight on his left arm while keeping a solid, firm grasp on their joined hands.

Hanna's hips shifted in time with his. She placed her right hand on his shoulder, holding on tight and absent-mindedly digging her nails into his flesh caused by the sheer sensation of feeling him move inside her.

But her attention was centered on their clasped hands as their bodies merged, synching their shallow breaths and pulsing heartbeats. It felt like his soul was melding and swirling with hers, like their hands had formed an unbreakable emotional bond.

Hanna felt his pace quicken, and she squeezed his hand tighter. His fingers returned the pressure of her grasp. "Oh, Caleb," she said with a breathy moan as she finally surrendered herself to climax.

He kept thrusting in and out of her a few times, never taking his eyes off of her flushed face, adoring her morning beautifulness in this most intimate moment until all too soon his face clenched and a strangled "Hanna…" fell from his lips. He cut off as his own orgasm washed over him with full force.

When the waves of ecstasy had subsided, Caleb lowered himself onto her chest, tucking his head onto her right shoulder. He loosened the pressure of their joined hands but did not release his grasp. They laid together silently for a few minutes until Caleb kissed her cheek and backed slightly away so that he could look her in the eyes.

Hanna smiled at him with an astonished look. Caleb shook his head slightly and smiled back at her, still amazed at the fact that he was allowed to make love to her again. "That was…" Caleb widened his eyes, at a loss for words.

"Consider your debts paid", was all she managed to speak while gasping heavily for air.

 **XXXXX**

After a short nap in the aftermath of their lovemaking, Hanna and Caleb agreed on accepting the invitation.

Inwardly, Hanna was actually looking forward to doing all of the things that Caleb had held out in prospect. She had raided her closet looking for a suitable outfit for a more sophisticated evening, but to no avail.

Never a man on the hunt for great bargains, Caleb resented shopping. But today, he didn't mind. Hanna's mood had changed so much for the better since the night before, he had no choice but to comply with her wish for a new evening gown… and a tuxedo for him!

They had spent the rest of the morning packing some clothes, texting their family and friends that they would spend the weekend out of town, and picking out a tuxedo rental.

After they had gassed up their car, they headed out of Rosewood for a stopover at a mall en route to the Jersey coast where the anniversary party would be held at a golf resort close by the beach.

Hanna and Caleb had gone their separate ways at the mall, each claiming to have some important errands to run in preparation for the party. Hanna made the fastest dress purchase of her life after she had seen THE dress in a store window of a small non-label fashion boutique and decided to surprise Caleb with it. She felt good about supporting a small fashion business, hoping that one day she would be given back the same chance with her own business.

Caleb sat in the car, contemplating his imaginings of the perfect job for him in the future when Hanna opened the trunk to stow her purchases. He startled but ultimately his face lit up when she opened the passenger door and got inside the car. "Did you find something nice to wear?" he curiously eyed her from the side while pulling out of his parking space.

At that, Hanna decided to have a little fun with him and put on her poker face. "Yeah, I think I found something suitable. I mean they didn't have a great selection of design labels at that freakishly small outlet, but I managed to get a decent dress."

He looked at her silhouette and chuckled at her mock poutiness, seeing right through her, before returning to his task of concentrating on the traffic surrounding them on their way back to the highway.

"Well, so long as it doesn't give you back fat… I remember how agitated that made you." He laughed out loud at his own joke, but when he caught a glimpse of her shooting a sharp look at him, he blindly reached for her hand and laid a gentle kiss on it. "Sorry."

They drove on for another hour and a half, before stopping the car in the parking lot at their destination, the Serene Meadows Golf Resort. There, they unloaded their baggage and quickly checked into their hotel room.

 **XXXXX**

Mitch Henslow had sprung for a nice premium suite at the hotel that stood on a hill overlooking the golf course on one side and facing the raw winds of the Atlantic Ocean on the other – before his brother and sister-in-law had both come down with the flu and had had to cancel their trip to the New Jersey coast.

Upon arrival, it had been late in the afternoon and the beginning of the reception dinner wasn't for another hour. Gray clouds were hanging low in the sky, and the weather did not seem appealing enough for a quick walk on the beach.

So instead, Hanna and Caleb took their time exploring their accommodations. They immediately stepped to the large picture window to check out the view. The vastness of the dark blue sea lay in front of them, a mere four floors below. A narrow coastal street nestling between now bald bushes and trees separated the hotel area from the beach. It would one day make for a great vacation in the summer, too, Caleb thought.

A modern style bathroom with a wall-to-wall glass front separating the shower with a twin shower head from the rest of the room adjoined to their master bedroom. Expensive body care products were lined up on a counter on one side of the shower, and Hanna picked up every single item to check it out while Caleb strolled back to the bedroom.

It was definitely a room with a view, Caleb suddenly realized when he laid down on the king-size bed opposite the bathroom. Through a head-high window in the wall, he could see Hanna's outline in the shower, bending down to reach for the little bottles and tubes. He settled back against a pillow with his arms behind his head and enjoyed the sight in front of him.

When Hanna returned to the room, she cuddled into his arms. She saw where he had been laying his eyes on and turned her face around so she could see him. "You are totally gonna watch me take a shower tomorrow morning, aren't you?" She chuckled and moved closer to his neck.

"Uh-huh, right after you've watched me." He grinned at her mischievously.

"Nah, I'll probably be sleeping like a baby on this mattress. Check it out, it's so soft." She turned away from him till she lay on her side and let her hand slide over the bedspread. She felt Caleb shifting behind her, also rolling over till he was tightly spooned against her body.

Suddenly, his mouth was right by her ear, nuzzling it lightly, whispering "Actually, I wasn't planning on wasting a lot of time sleeping here." The tender undertone in his voice made Hanna shiver. Caleb had started to kiss her soft spots below her ear, and she closed her eyes to indulge in his gentle approach.

She felt his hand dipping underneath her long-sleeved shirt to caress her flat stomach, ghosting over her skin without getting too close to her breasts. It was his way of telling her that he let her decide which level of intimacy she was willing to take him to in the light of the shortness of time left to get ready for the evening.

Within an instant, Hanna had made up her mind and laid her hand on his, gently leading it to where she wanted him to touch her.

Grateful for her lead, Caleb pressed his groin against her butt. Just the friction of his hardened ridge was enough to shed any smidgen of restraint she'd kept. Hanna sighed as she moved her body till she came lying on her back.

Both lay still for a moment and gazed at each other, their eyes full of love… and lust… silently agreeing that it didn't matter what the clock read. Right here and now they felt the overwhelming need to make love, to unite their bodies and souls the way they had come to enjoy again and again over the course of the last couple of days.

"I love you," Hanna broke the silence as she held his face in her hands to emphasize her meaningful words.

He said them back without hesitating, "I love you, too" and began kissing her tenderly, taking his time as he parted her lips and entered her mouth. Hanna returned the kiss with passion.

Their bodies started writhing against each other, clothes becoming an obstacle in their drive to feel the warmth of each other's skin. They hastily got rid of their attire, tossing it whichever direction their roaming arms would allow them until little heaps of pants, shirts, socks, underwear were scattered all around their bed, and their nude bodies came together in a heated embrace.

Hanna laid down on her back again, and Caleb came leaning halfway over her upper body. Soon they were entwined in each other's mouths again, their arms and legs melding in a huddle, rolling over together in a frenzy, again and again, their positions taking turns.

A thin film of sweat was building where their bodies were touching. Caleb pulled himself free to move down her body until his head hovered directly over her belly button. He dipped his tongue in and swirled it around in circles surrounding the navel, all the while his hands were resting on her waist, pinning her to the mattress.

Hanna's hands were in his hair, grasping for a hold, and also desperately trying to push his head a little further down to guide his tongue to where she needed his ministrations the most. But he wouldn't grant her that wish.

In the next second, Caleb's head came resting against her chest for a short moment to catch his breath. He could hear her breathing hard along with the frantic movements of her hands now trying to grab hold of the bedspread, desperate to still her body from the trembling his ticklish licking had caused.

As he lifted his head to look into her face again, his hands came moving up along her sides, both gripping her breasts hard, squeezing them, pinching her nipples to stiff peaks. He could see the desire in her darkened eyes, almost rolling to the back of her head in complete ecstasy that his treatment of her breasts had sparked within her.

Hanna arched her back to push her body even closer against his.

At that moment, Caleb moved his head up to where hers was tossing restlessly on the pillow. His hands left her breasts and wandered all the way up to her neck, caressing her flushed skin with just the tips of his fingers.

Their mouths met again in a shattering kiss, letting their tongues dance with each other, leaving them breathless for a second.

Caleb left her lips to trail hot kisses down her neck and her shoulder. Then he suddenly rolled her over onto her stomach, without any protest. He moved around so that he was partway lying on her.

Hanna felt the heat and size of his body on her back. An almost never before known bout of excitation filled her mind. She was trapped, full of anticipation of his next movements.

As he was trailing sensual kisses down her back, he parted her legs with his and, lying directly over her, continued kissing and stroking her slowly.

She moaned and felt the heat rise in her core with desire for him. She could feel his erection on her leg and when he rose higher to begin kissing her other shoulder; she could feel the tip of his erection leaning against her butt. She began moving against him, and he groaned at the gesture.

He reached around her to cup her between her legs, and she jerked into his hand. When his fingers stroked over her folds he could feel her wetness; she was so ready for him.

Picking her up by her waist, he brought her up onto her knees. Her hands were pressing into the mattress. He began to enter her from behind, his penis at her opening slowly pushing its way into her warmth. She moved back hard against him, forcing him to push himself into her further and he let out a cry of approval.

His strangled voice came from behind her, "God, Hanna, you feel so good." As soon he was completely sheathed inside her, he stilled for a moment and his head fell behind from the sensational feeling. He had to steady himself by holding her by her pelvis.

At some point, they both began to move. Hanna kept rocking back and forth to meet his movements of pushing in and out of her.

Loud moaning was now filling the room, mingling with the lapping of their sweaty bodies against each other. The thrill of this rediscovered position soon pushed them close to the edge. He tried not to let himself get too carried away but in that position, it was really difficult not to go crazy.

But then his efforts to delay his release were almost smashed as she pulled herself up into an upright position. She reached around to pull his head towards hers and latched onto his mouth, probing it fiercely with her tongue. He followed her lead, forcefully kissing her back.

He reached around her with his hands and cupped her breasts, then sent one of his hands lower to seek out her sensitive nub to drive her over into climax.

That did it for her. She came, throbbing against his erection and against his fingers, moaning high-pitched noises into his mouth. He felt her body tensing at once as she let go of his mouth and dropped her head back. He could feel her muscles convulse against him again and again until she collapsed against him, breathing heavily into the hollow of his neck. He was pumping himself into her in a final thrust, giving up total control to his body as he climaxed deep within her.

They stayed like that for a short time, then Caleb leaned back on his heels to sit, pulling her back to sit on his thighs with him still inside her.

Hanna leaned back against him, and he brought his arms around her, while resting his head on her shoulder. Neither of them felt the need to speak while gradually letting the feeling of being high subside.

When their breathing was back to normal, Caleb gently pushed her from his lap and kissed her shoulder before their bodies lost contact.

A look at the alarm clock standing on the night table had quickly brought them both back down to the here and now, as they would likely be late for the reception dinner, unless they got a move on. They each got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom.

After a quick shower together, Hanna had banned Caleb from the bathroom in order to change into her magnificent dress and do her hair and makeup.

She had imagined the very moment in her mind, when she would step out of the bathroom to present herself to him in that midnight blue sleeveless floor-length gown with a halter neckline and a thigh-baring slit. There were beaded embellishments on the back and on the sides, and the A-line silhouette hugged her curves in all the right places. She had chosen a classy outfit for a real grown-up night out with Caleb, something they hadn't experienced together so far.

And remembering how he had intended to show her off to the rest of the guests, she wanted to knock his socks off first.

Hanna continued her efforts to glam up, drying her blonde mane with a blow dryer and straightening it afterwards. Eventually, she picked some of the hair products from the counter inside the shower and applied them to her hair for an extra shiny gloss. Then she parted it in the middle and treated a few streaks with a curling iron before pulling the hair on her sides back into loose braids that tied together at the back of her head with a neat silver barrette complete with a dark blue gemstone set in the middle.

Standing in front of the mirror in a hotel room far away from home, far away from A.D., she felt totally at ease. The scorch marks on her back had faded slightly in the meantime. Through the nude-colored fabric of her dress, they could hardly be made out. She felt most beautiful for the first time in many months.

Caleb's words from two days ago were still ringing in her ear when she carefully applied her makeup, taking into account that he preferred to see her face with only a subtle hint of makeup.

As she looked at herself in the mirror one last time, she smiled confidently. After she walked through a spray of her favorite perfume, she put on her six-inch midnight blue satin heels and was all ready to woo her man.

But as soon as she stepped back into the bedroom, he had already managed to throw her off completely. With wide eyes and a partly opened mouth, she stopped dead in her tracks and beamed at him, checking him out head to toe.

Caleb looked stunning in his deep black slim-fit tuxedo jacket with notched satin lapels, four-button cuffs and matching pants with tapered legs, perfectly complemented by a white button-down shirt and spotlessly polished black leather shoes.

Their eyes met with the very same expression.

Caleb mouthed "Wow!", clearly infatuated with her looks, before taking her hands and letting her turn around in a circle so he could take her in from all sides. "You look so beautiful," he complimented her with radiating eyes.

Hanna flushed slightly, feeling his eyes on her curves.

He pulled her close to inhale the scent of her rich perfume before putting his hand on the small of her back. For a few seconds, he stood still, his forehead leaning against hers, savoring the moment of representing the perfect unit for onlookers. The perfect couple in a festive environment celebrating love and happiness.

"Are you ready? Can I go brag about you with the rest of the crowd now?" Caleb said with an admiring look and a tender undertone in his voice.

"Only if you beat me to it. You look so handsome, Caleb. You really do." Hanna returned the compliment while removing some tiny piece of lint off of his lapels.

"All right, shall we?" he reached out his hand, interlacing it with hers as she took it.

On their way to the door, Hanna grabbed her purse and put their key card inside, while Caleb picked up the wrapped present and a flower bouquet for his former boss' wife.

Together they left their suite and strolled down the stairwell to the convention hall that had been turned into a ballroom of sorts, vastly decorated with flower arrangements, round tables with noble place settings and a large square dance floor.

Before they arrived at their table, Caleb had quickly told Hanna everything about the time he had been working for Mitch and about his wife, Maddie. Two people coming from wealthy families, but decent enough to not let it show.

Caleb had liked working for Mitch and had only ended his contract with him when he had decided to resettle in Washington, D.C. a couple of years ago. He knew that Mitch and Maddie were high school sweethearts who had married right after college and were now in their late forties with two grown-up sons. Caleb also knew that Mitch had taken care of his kids at home a long time ago when his wife had been starting her own real estate business. They were a picture-perfect family, and it was one of the reasons Caleb had wanted to come here and celebrate with them… to see that things could work out that way… that two people could make it work while each was fulfilling their individual dreams.

Hanna and Caleb mingled in the throng of people arriving for the party, shaking hands with some of Caleb's former co-workers, making new acquaintances among those guests close in age, and all in all, they were having a good time together.

 **XXXXX**

As the hours ticked by, Caleb and Hanna enjoyed getting to know better the other people at their table, mostly co-workers Caleb used to work with at one time or another over the past years.

At one point, Mitch walked up to their table, joining in their conversations, asking the couple how they had met. He remembered vaguely that at the time he had hired Caleb, the young man had been single and he had never seen him with a date at business venues.

The question had instantly caused everybody else at their table to abort talking and listen instead. Couple stories like this still had the best audiences, Mitch thought, proud of his ability to keep his guests entertained.

And so, Hanna and Caleb had taken turns to tell their story of how they, too, had met in high school, how Caleb had lived in her basement for some time without her mother's knowledge, which had sparked laughter amongst the people at their table and also, how they had gone on separate ways after some time of having lived together in New York, and how they had just recently rekindled things, which had made especially the women around them all teary-eyed and whisper "aaawww".

Looking at his swooning wife as the story had ended, Mitch snickered but congratulated the couple on finding their way back together after so long. He had watched the couple as they were talking, often finishing each other's sentences, not taking their eyes off the other when it wasn't their turn to speak.

It had reminded him of his first years with Maddie. _A precious time._

When the young couple had stopped talking to take a sip from their champagne, he went over to Caleb and whispered something into his ear, patting him on the back at the same time, before he ventured on to the next table to engage in a new conversation with other guests.

Caleb smiled at the words still lingering in his ear, long after Mitch had left the table. Hanna noticed his slight embarrassment and leaned in to ask "Okay, what was that all about?"

He looked at her with a devilish smile on his face, saying, "I'll tell you later." At that, he got up from the table and made a beeline to the dessert buffet at the far end of the room, leaving Hanna behind when he saw Maddie pulling a chair closer to Hanna to sit down and chat with the young blonde.

 **XXXXX**

Later in the evening, when everybody had finished their dinner and the formal speeches had been delivered by the happily married couple and their respective parents, the DJ started playing music.

Anxious to ask Caleb for the dance he had promised her, as soon as he would return from the restroom, Hanna looked around the room and watched the crowd. All she saw were smiling happy faces, and it made her feel dizzy to be a part of that crowd. There was no reason for her not to be equally as happy right this moment.

From the distance, she could see Caleb making his way over and back to their table. He looked so gorgeous tonight, she couldn't help thinking. That rented tuxedo looked so good on him. Before her mind could drift off to other occasions she would want him to wear an outfit like that, Caleb was with her again, holding out his hand to her, "Can I have this dance, Miss Marin?"

Hanna shivered at his words and willingly followed him across the room to the dance floor. They found a spot on the floor and turned into each other's arms. Gazes locked, and smiling tenderly they melted into the dance.

When the first few seconds of the song had played, Hanna recognized it, and within a moment, tears were welling up in her eyes. She had first heard that song in a movie that she had seen with Caleb one day when they were still in high school. It had left them both sobbing and holding on to each other on the couch at Hanna's house so many years ago.

 _Let it go  
Let it roll right off your shoulder  
Don't you know  
The hardest part is over?  
Let it in  
Let your clarity define you  
In the end  
We will only just remember how it feels_

Hanna rested her head against Caleb's cheek as they continued to dance. "It's been so long since I've heard this song," she murmured. "It's beautiful."

 _Our lives are made_ _  
_ _In these small hours  
These little wonders  
These twists and turns of fate  
Time falls away  
But these small hours  
These small hours still remain_

Caleb closed his eyes as he held Hanna. He wanted to memorize this feeling, to keep it with him always. "It's like it was written especially for us," he whispered back. They swayed along to the rhythm of the song, taking in the meaningful lyrics, here and there exchanging loving looks.

 _Let it slide_  
 _Let your troubles fall behind you  
Let it shine  
Until you feel it all around you  
And I don't mind  
If it's me you need to turn to  
We'll get by  
It's the heart that really matters in the end_

As the last tunes of the song were playing, Caleb looked at Hanna, his brown eyes tender with emotion. He placed a small kiss on her lips and glanced around, certainty in his eyes.

"I told you I want to show you off as my girlfriend." Coming to a standstill, their mouths met again in a long, passionate kiss. Other couples danced around them, some of them staring bluntly at the kissing couple in love. But for the moment, neither was aware of anything else in the world but each other.

 _All of my regret_

 _Will wash away somehow  
But I cannot forget  
The way I feel right now_

After the song had ended, their lips parted and their foreheads touched. Both sighed happily as they stood, waiting for the DJ to continue with a new set of songs, holding each other's hands and looking slightly embarrassed. The other dancers around them scattered in different directions, minding their own business again.

The next moment, Mitch made a beeline for the microphone the DJ was holding out for him after he had given him a signal with his champagne glass. He made an announcement, dedicating the next set of songs from their first year of marriage twenty-five years ago to his beloved Maddie. Then he led his wife to the dance floor and started swaying her to the first tunes of a Boyz II Men song.

Caleb chuckled at the choice of song, clearly surprised about his former boss' taste in music. Hanna wanted to sit this next round out and lead Caleb outside, directly towards the beautifully lit terrace with hundreds of twinkling chains of light fixed to lamp posts and trees in plant pots.

It had gotten chilly outside, and Hanna wrapped her arms around her body. Caleb offered her his jacket, but she didn't want it. "That's what I get for picking out a sleeveless dress in the middle of November," she grinned at him. "You just keep that jacket on, you look so sexy in it. Although, I do want to undress you later," she winked at him.

"So… Do you wanna go for a walk or what do you wanna do now?" Caleb asked her, unsure why she'd led him away from the party in the first place.

"I just felt like taking you outside to tell you something," she said before she put her arms around his neck. When he furrowed his brows, she leaned in to kiss him on the lips, and he closed his eyes, all doubts fleeing from his mind. "Thank you… for dancing with me," she smiled at him.

"Not a-"

She cut him off by putting her forefinger on his mouth. "Thank you… for convincing me to go to this party today. I needed this… the change… the distraction."

She lifted her eyes off of his face, turning to look around and out at the distant trees scattered all over the golf course, which became visible from their vantage point. "It's so nice to see people for a change who are sincerely happy and content with their lives. No A, no A.D., no scam, no blind missing person, no police officers at their heels, no-"

This time, he cut her off, placing a sweet kiss on her forehead, saying, "You're very welcome, Hanna. I'm really glad we came, too."

"Are you going to tell me what you and Mitch were talking about earlier that made you so flustered?" she point-blank addressed him.

Caleb put in his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close, and together they started strolling through the hotel garden, walking side by side.

For a little while, he was trying out sentences in his mind only to scratch them again instantly and rethink the way he wanted to tell her the news. Then he inhaled sharply and answered her question, "Hanna, first of all, he congratulated me… on you. He said you were a real keeper, and that we would remind him of his relationship with Maddie."

Hanna turned her face around to look at his silhouette in the dark garden, only lit by flickering torches every few feet. "That's it?" She felt uneasy, always suspecting some dark secret in the most innocent situations.

Before Caleb could continue to speak, he was suddenly given another pat on the back, causing him to stumble and stop dead in his tracks. When he turned around, he recognized Mitch's face who beamed at him, a subtle odor of alcohol coming from his mouth as he hollered at him in passing, "So, have you told her? Is she moving to D.C. with you, or are you two gonna do the long-distance thing?"

Not waiting for his answer, Mitch hurried by, explaining he had to find his mother-in-law for a dance now.

Hanna gazed after him, her mouth open in shock. Then turning around again, her sight fell back on Caleb, who was now looking down on the ground, conscience-stricken.

 _He's leaving?_

All the sudden, her heart had started hammering loudly against her chest. She felt like she was about to faint from the lack of oxygen when her breathing couldn't quite catch up so fast. Her eyes had widened, and when Caleb found himself too obstructed to explain the situation, she moved back one step, followed by a second until she turned on her heel and simply bolted through the garden all the back inside the hotel, turning a corner and disappearing from his view.

Caleb immediately started to run after her, but was pulled back by Mitch who had appeared by his side again, dragging his equally tipsy mother-in-law along. "Just a word, son, and then you can go get your girl back. There's only so few places she could go here," he snickered.

"You have no idea, Mitch," Caleb replied, his eyes still gazing in the direction Hanna had run, only half listening to what his boss had to say, and thinking with regret that with Hanna's walls back up again, he would have to search really hard to find her.

 **XXXXX**

Five minutes later, Caleb stepped out of the hotel lobby again and into the cold, misty night, instantaneously turning his head in all directions to make out a familiar shape in the bleak darkness.

But the hotel driveway and the street across from it were empty. No noises. No cars. No people.

No Hanna.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _Phew, this chapter took me a little longer than expected. I hope you enjoyed it. I always enjoy reading your reviews, so please feel free to drop me a line or two! Thank you!_

 _Credit goes to Rob Thomas and his beautiful song "Little wonders" from the movie "Meet the Robinsons" (you should watch it, reminds me of Caleb's sad family situation). And lastly, I'd like to thank Janethewriter1 for some helpful insight. It's such a joy for me to meet all these new people on the internet sharing the same kind of passion - and sleep deprivation ;-) - Jane being one of them! Zip_


	9. Chapter 9 - SATURDAY late at night

**Chapter 9 – SATURDAY late at night  
**

Caleb called out her name, but his cry didn't travel far with the wind rustling in the trees, cracking branches. The moon had disappeared behind thick dark clouds. At any moment, raindrops would start falling from the sky.

She still had to be outside, he had seen her storm out through the lobby and out of the hotel.

Caleb ran to the parking lot, again calling for her, to check if Hanna had gone to their car.

The lot was empty. And Hanna was nowhere to be seen.

He felt through the fabric of his tuxedo, checking all the pockets for his phone, but then he remembered that they both had left their phones in the suite upstairs. The realization hit him hard and he had to rub his eyes for a moment to alleviate some of the tension that was slowly building inside his whole body.

Standing in the middle of the street in front of the hotel, he turned around to look in both directions, wary of the swaying trees above and beside him.

A thought crossed his mind, there was only one place left where she could be. He set his body in motion, tentatively at first, but soon increasing his pace. Eventually, he ran to the beach that lay in total darkness. His eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the ever decreasing lightness with every step further away from the hotel perimeters, Caleb called again at the top of his lungs, "Hanna?"

When he didn't hear or see anything, he became more and more agitated. He turned around checking for any sign of life, anyone who he could ask if they had seen a woman running for her life. But the sands of the beach stretching to his left and right were absolutely still, save for the sound of the churning sea. He paused, undecided which direction to run first.

Trying hard to figure out which way looked the least threatening, he opted for a turn to the right, seeing there was at least a tiny ray of light distinguishable from his vantage point.

Having trouble getting ahead in the dry sand, he wondered how far Hanna had come in her heels.

Caleb scurried over the beach with absolutely no sense of distance in the darkness. Finally, the source of the light he had seen before became more and more apparent.

Moving closer, he could make out the wooden structure of a pier stretching into the sea. In the middle of it, a single lamp-post exuded a weak light cone, and there he could see the outline of a human being standing at the rail.

With long yellow, windswept hair like an angel.

Hanna.

 **XXXXX**

With her arms propped up on the wooden rail of the old ocean pier, Hanna stood looking into the far distance, lost in thoughts, trying to calm her nerves and scolding herself for not having been able to handle the situation differently.

She felt angry, not just about Mitch springing a potential change of Caleb's living situation on her, but also about her own inability to endure conflict-laden circumstances due to her mental state.

The moment she had heard Mitch talk about Caleb going to D.C., it had felt like a rug was being pulled from under her. Her inner walls had tumbled, causing all rational thinking to flee her mind.

Now, her throat clogged up as she was standing there all by herself, thinking about how her future would hold many heartbreaking goodbye scenarios and yearning long-distance FaceTime conversations.

No. Never in a million years would she opt for this kind of relationship. Especially not at this point, when everything between them was still so new and fresh yet again. She didn't want him to leave. Convinced she'd never be able to handle being without him again, her mind was racing to come up with ideas of how to deal with Caleb's career opportunities.

 _Leaving Rosewood with him to go live in Washington, D.C.?_

If she left town now, she'd end up unemployed and without any form of professional network in a new city. Would she be able to handle that? Which was worse, losing Caleb or losing her business?

In the distance, she could hear a faint voice call her name.

 _He's coming for me. Thank goodness, he's always coming for me_ , she thought, relief washing over her that soon she would be able to share her thoughts and doubts with him, explaining her irrational behavior, thus shedding the slight feeling of embarrassment.

She felt a myriad of emotions running through her mind as soon as her nerves had calmed down and as soon as she had realized that once again her knight in shining armor would help her find a solution, like he always did.

A new thought flashed through her mind, bright and clear. He had once upon a long ago given up everything for her, literally, even his own pay check, to help her make her dreams come true by paying for her college tuition.

She figured that her plan of maybe one day going back to New York again to continue expanding her fashion empire once it had been set up was doomed anyway, knowing how much Caleb had hated living there, and again concluding with tears in her eyes that he had stuck with her through it all anyway.

Overwhelmed, she reasoned with herself. New York hadn't really turned out to give her career the kind of jump start she had dreamed of. So, why go there again? What did she expect to find there in the light of the things she had achieved so far?

The answer hit her hard.

Nothing. In New York, no-one was awaiting Hanna Marin, future design icon.

Everything she had deemed valuable in her life for the past couple of months was right around her.

Her friends, her chance of running her own fashion business, and most importantly, Caleb.

Another realization hit home.

It was his turn now.

And if he wanted to move to D.C. to pursue his career, they'd find a way to move things ahead for her, too, no matter where, just as long as they were together.

It was this thought that eventually helped her break the chains the anxiety attack had tight her up in, emotionally.

She relaxed a little bit, inhaled deeply and now waited for Caleb to appear by her side.

 **XXXXX**

Caleb ran all the way over to the pier, as fast as his feet, awkwardly sinking in the thick sand, allowed. When he arrived, he climbed up the narrow wooden stairs taking two steps at a time and hurried over the wooden planks at increased speed, thankful for his feet to move on solid ground again. "Hanna? No!" He yelled at her from the distance, afraid of the picture she'd set up for him. "What are you doing?"

"Hanna? No!" He yelled at her from the distance, afraid of the image she had set up for him. "What are you doing?"

Hanna turned around, holding an arm above her eyes to shield them from the light coming from right above her, and peeked into the dark. She waited until he was just a few feet away before speaking with a calm voice, "Fighting an anxiety attack, obviously. And burying my dreams in a good place, I guess."

As soon as he was close enough and within reach, he held out his arm to touch her shoulder.

"Don't freak, I wasn't gonna jump," she said to him and propped her elbows back up on the rail.

Trying to catch a breath, he spoke raggedly, "Baby, what are you doing out here? Is this about what Mitch said? About me going to D.C.?"

His presence caused her confidence to falter and her mind swam. Every thought of everything she had been planning to say to him now went out the window.

Avoiding his gaze, Hanna looked out at the ocean, lost in thoughts, "In all my life, I have wanted something like that." She pointed her head to the direction of the hotel before she continued, "You know… to have a happy relationship with the right person by my side who… supports me and who loves me… for who I am."

"But Hanna, I am that person." He tried to assure her, but then his voice crumbled when he saw that she didn't react. "Or at least, I'm trying to be."

"Yeah, I know." At that, she started to cry.

"Hanna, what's wrong?" He looked at her, deeply concerned.

"I had everything I wanted in New York and I threw it away. I was too busy, and now I'm trying so hard to figure out a way to make our relationship work while trying to run a fashion business in the near future. I'm sorry. I... I-"

He cut her off, "Han, you didn't throw anything away, I did. I was the one turning my back on you. Do you understand? And if this is about the job offer, you have absolutely nothing to be worried about."

She turned her head, furrowing her brows. She tried to read his face but the shadow of the light the lamp-post right above them threw across his face hid his features. So she carried on to elaborate, "It's not just that, Caleb. I'm afraid that one day you'll be tired of dealing with me, my work schedule and, on top of all, that stupid trauma stress disease."

She was now sobbing, and he pulled out his pocket square to hand it to her, but she shrugged it off, chuckling lightly at the sweet gesture.

Caleb turned her around and nudged her face upwards so she had to look at him. "Hanna? I've said this before and I'll say it again and again until you believe me. I'm not going anywhere. Not anymore. It's true, Mitch did offer me a job in D.C., yes, but it's not for another year or so. His company has branches scattered all over the east coast, and there will be a new one in D.C. opening up next year. He wants me to run the IT supervision department. But until then, I can work in his Philadelphia team, as a deputy supervisor. Hanna, he even offered me home office." Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, he added, "You don't have to bury anything because of me."

She felt a tad relieved, but the sad look on her face wouldn't go away, "How about us?"

Now he looked bewildered. "What about us? Are you having second thoughts about us being back together?" His voice sounded anxious. "As for me, I-", he paused to come up with the right words, "I know I was an ass in New York. I know that now. And I can't tell you how sorry I am for giving you a hard time about your job when we were living together. But I'm trying to make it up to you now. I've got your back, completely, with everything you do in your business deal with Lucas. Wherever you need to be, I'll just grab my laptop and hop on the plane with you."

At that, she sobbed hard, and he leaned in and softly kissed her forehead, taking her face into his hands. His eyes tried to lock with hers in the hazy shade underneath the lamp-post.

With utter affirmation in his voice, he went on, "And if you think I'll ever leave you to deal with your problems alone, think again. I love you, Hanna. And I meant it when I said I never wanted to spend another day without you for the rest of my life. Because it's you, Hanna. Underneath it all, it's still you… the most caring person I've ever known. And I can't live without you." When she smiled vaguely, he laid a sweet kiss on her mouth and added, "We are gonna get through this… together!"

His thumb brushed the tears away that had been pooling under her eyes again. He patiently waited for her response, seeing she was having trouble to grasp his words."

Keeping her smile up, Hanna tried to tell him that she believed every single word he had said, but her eyes betrayed her emotions. There was yet another fear inside of her.

Voicing her innermost thoughts, she started to elaborate, "I don't know. I want to believe you. So bad. But I see your boss and his wife and I think about how they come from these perfect stable families, and then I think about us… Us broken kids. From broken families. You and me… together forever… What are the chances? I've talked about this with my therapist. She told me the odds. How are we ever going to make it work, Caleb?"

At first, he looked stricken… surprised that she brought it up at all. It had never been an issue between them when they were together in the first place.

But then he put his arms around her, holding her steady, "Because we're meant to make it work, Hanna. Look how far we've come, then and again. I know that there was a time when I'd had some doubts myself but that was my old me speaking. The new me is one hundred per cent sure that we are meant to be and that we can make it work."

"Then what changed your mind?" She looked at him curiously.

"Your fearlessness, your passion, your drive. I don't know why I hadn't seen it before or why I thought I couldn't handle the situation, but having been through these last three years made me realize something. We're soulmates, Hanna."

And then, chuckling about some memories flashing through his mind, he added, "Should have known it right when I met you."

"Well, you barely could. I was awful to you", she said, her facial features relaxing a little bit at the change of topic.

Caleb shook his head, grinning, "I saw past that."

"You mean you saw past that hundred dollar bill from Jenna?" She gave him a little punch on his forearm. After all these years she had forgiven him. He had proven enough that his love had been sincere from the beginning, and so she hurried to continue, "I'm pretty sure you don't believe in love at first sight."

"No. It wasn't love at first sight. There was something there. I definitely felt something. I was attracted to you immediately, more attracted than I had ever been to any other girl. I felt… some kind of connection to you. I had never felt it before, and I had… no, I still have no idea exactly what it is, but it's there. But, no, it wasn't love. Not like I love you now."

"How do you love me now?" she asked softly, bringing one hand up to caress his cheek, the other resting on his arm.

"I can't even put it into words, Hanna. I love you so much. You've changed my whole life for the better. I'm so much happier now, so much more complete. You are the only thing that gets me through the bad times, and you make the good times so much better. You helped me forget about the past, when I thought I could never fit in. With you by my side, this is where I fit in. Hanna, I'll go wherever you want me to. New York, Paris, Milan. I don't care as long as we're together. My dream was never to have a successful business career, my dream was to have a home and a family. And with you, I think I'm as close to having that as I can get. Everything else will fall into place at its own time."

It took her a moment to take in the significance of his words.

"Oh, Caleb." Hanna stretched up, closing the short distance between them and capturing his lips in a sweet kiss. Her eyes pricked with fresh tears as she battled to keep her emotions under control.

When the kiss ended, it was a few seconds before she could speak. "I love you, too. I love you so much that it overwhelms me sometimes. I didn't know a love like this existed. I'd seen it only in fairytales and movies. I look back now on what my life was like without you in New York and I can't imagine living like that ever again. But…" She exhaled visibly to release some of the tension that had been capturing her heart. "It's just so scary thinking that with A.D. still lurking in the shadows it could all be over too soon. I just don't ever want to be without you again."

Hanna stopped, emotion clogging her throat. She held Caleb's gaze for just another second before tugging him back down for another kiss, this time more passionate and almost breathtaking.

At that moment, the sky opened up, and rain began to fall, soaking them both in a matter of seconds.

Not that they were noticing.

"I promise we're gonna find A.D. and we're gonna make them stop. And then it's just gonna be you and me living a normal life like a normal couple," he said after their lips had parted from each other, bending toward her ear so that she would hear him over the rain that continued to fall.

She looked at him lovingly. "I'm sorry, Caleb. For being irrational and storming off like that. I should have stayed and talked to you. I'm working on it, though," Hanna said sincerely and with a weak smile as the torrent of rain kept washing over her face and hair.

"I know you do," he answered just as lovingly as he took off his tuxedo jacket and held it out for her behind her back, so she could slip her arms into the damp sleeves. Then he pulled her in for a hug, trying to share his body warmth with her.

Time stood still as they stayed locked in each other's embrace. A gust of wind caused Hanna to shiver, and Caleb pulled back reluctantly. "You must be freezing out here," he said.

The rain began to fall harder, causing rivulets of water to run down from their hair and into their faces, but they didn't mind. Caleb moved closer again and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She returned the kiss with fervor as it started to warm her up from the inside.

He moved one hand up to cup the side of her head, feeling the power of the wind and the rain as it trickled across their faces and into their mouths at every gasp for breath.

When the kiss broke, Caleb cupped her cheeks in his warm palms, looking at her worriedly. "You're trembling."

He was soaking wet, and his thin shirt was sticking to his torso, yet he seemed more concerned with her well-being than his. "Let's go back inside. We can continue talking about this in our cozy hotel bed."

"No, we won't," she grinned at him, shaking her head and causing him to chuckle.

 _She always had to be right._

Hanna took off her heels and started moving to walk back to the hotel, holding her shoes by their thin ankle-straps, but Caleb held her back. "Hanna?"

She stopped and turned around, eyeing him with suspicion, "What?"

"Promise me something?"

She frowned at him.

"Next time you have another one of your… irrational moments…" He pulled her close again.

"Yeah?"

"You can run away if you need to catch a breath or need time to think things over. Just… always make sure that I can find you. Okay?"

And before she could answer, he placed two kisses on her lips. She tasted like a magnificent mingling of teardrops, rain and Hanna Marin.

Then he started to run back towards the front end of the pier, dragging her along with him through the pouring rain, their hands tightly locked to face the stormy weather.

Unseeing in the dark while scurrying back over the beach, Hanna's bare foot stepped on a tiny stone, causing her to stumble. Caleb instinctively grabbed her hand even more tightly, preventing her from falling altogether.

As she was slightly limping, Caleb stopped short, pausing them just as they reached the smoother surface of the paved road, ignoring the rain still pouring down on them in his growing concern. "Hanna, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She shivered almost uncontrollably, from the wet dress clinging to her body or the anticipation of what was bound to happen once they returned to their hotel room, she couldn't tell.

Mumbling, "Nah, it's nothing", Hanna just started running on and pulled him with her.

When they reached the canopied driveway of the hotel, they slowed down, and Caleb laid his arm protectively over her shoulder, his jacket still wrapped around her body. He held her close to his side as he led them back inside the lobby.

His eyes searched for their hosts as he meant to thank them for the invitation and tell them that they would call it a night.

From their vantage point, Hanna and Caleb could peek inside the ballroom, and they saw Mitch enter the small stage where the DJ had set up his equipment next to the dance floor. He grabbed the microphone and looked around at the crowd.

When his gaze fell onto the young couple standing just underneath the archway leading into the ballroom, he smiled at them. From the look on their faces, he could instantly tell that everything would be fine again.

He raised his champagne glass and made another toast, suddenly not sounding tipsy at all anymore, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to raise my glass to my beautiful wife of twenty-five years, Maddie. Maddie, I love you. Thank you for sticking with me… through the good times and the bad. I would like to dedicate this next song to you…. You know why."

At this, the DJ started the song and the first romantic tunes were filling the room.

Mitch continued, "We've once been through hell and made it back out. Here's to overcoming the dark times! Cheers, everyone!"

Despite her wet clothes and the wet hair sticking to her scalp, Hanna couldn't help but smile. That little speech had warmed her heart. And raised her curiosity as she wondered what had once happened to the seemingly perfect couple.

Mitch stepped down from the stage, handing the microphone over to the DJ, and walked straight towards Maddie. "Can I have this dance, please?"

The couple entered the dance floor and started swaying slowly to the sound of the love song.

 _I gave you all the love I got_

 _I gave you more than I could give_

 _I gave you love_

 _I gave you all that I have inside_

 _And you took my love_

 _You took my love_

Hanna had seen enough and wanted to leave. Caleb held her back and looked at her with pleading eyes, when she frowned at him. "Can I have one more dance?"

"Caleb, I'm wet and I'm cold and I want more than anything to get rid of my clothes and take a hot shower," she reasoned with him.

 _Didn't I tell you_

 _What I believe?_

 _Did somebody say that_

 _A love like that won't last?_

 _Didn't I give you_

 _All that I've got to give, baby?_

But he kept looking at her with his brown puppy-dog eyes, begging, "Just for a minute, please? I promised I'd dance with you. Plus, I really like this song. I'd listened to it so many times after our breakup."

 _There's nothing like you and I, baby_

"And you like it anyway?" Hanna asked incredulously, but then she willingly let Caleb pull her into his arms, and together they started dancing in slow circling movements.

 _This is no ordinary love_

 _No ordinary love_

"I like it now. Because I know that we, too… that we can overcome the dark times," he whispered into her ear as they were moving to the slow rhythm. "And I promise as soon as we're back in our room upstairs, I'll make sure you won't ever be cold again."

Hanna flushed and laid her head on his shoulder as they swayed on.

 _When you came my way_

 _You brightened every day_

 _With your sweet smile_

At that, Mitch and Maddie came dancing past them, and he leaned over to them asking Caleb, "How about the four of us have breakfast together in the morning, so we can discuss setting up a new contract? Say around 10?"

Caleb looked at Hanna, asking for her approval. She nodded, saying "All right. That sounds fun."

"Then it's set. And I'm sure you'll like the breakfast buffet this hotel has to offer. The new French bakery outside of Rosewood has a great variety of pastries, and I paid the restaurant manager to pick up a special breakfast order for us first thing in the morning. Maddie just can't live without their Danishes." And turning back to his wife, he added, "Am I right, honey?"

 _Keep trying for you_

 _Keep crying for you_

 _Keep flying for you_

She just giggled, and then the couple danced on, moving over the dance floor with well attuned routine, leaving Caleb and Hanna behind who had stopped dancing and stared after them, both chuckling softly.

The song ended, and Caleb took Hanna's hand to place a small kiss on it. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

As they made their way upstairs using the elevator, they kept exchanging little glances every now and then, smiling giddily. They would have been all over each other, had there not been an elderly couple in the car with them.

Arriving on the fourth floor, the elevator's soft _ding_ caused Hanna and Caleb to sigh with relief, murmuring, "Finally". And as soon as the doors had closed behind them, they lunged for each other.

Stumbling together through the long hall that lead to their suite, Hanna frantically reached up to wrap two shivering hands around the back of his head, pulling his mouth down to hers, while Caleb fumbled around with the hidden zipper on her dress, but failed in the heat of the moment.

When his back bumped awkwardly against a parked laundry cart, Caleb pulled Hanna to the side, pressing her back against the opposite wall and placing his hands next to her head, thus trapping her.

She glanced at him with eyes wide open, lips parted, and breathing heavily. The next moment, her satin heels and the small purse fell onto the floor beside her feet with a quiet thud.

Her slender frame appeared even smaller to him, now that she wasn't wearing her heels. He looked down at her face with dark eyes in the dimly lit hallway, turned on by what he saw.

Hanna closed the distance between them and brushed her lips against his. Caleb couldn't get enough of the feel of her kiss or the way that she whimpered into his mouth, pulling passionately on his lips as she asked for more. Soon, Hanna's tongue extended out to taste him. He willingly complied, deepening the kiss until it became desperate, hungry, urgent.

Moving an arm down, he released her from captivity, and pulled his fingers through her wet hair.

She clasped her hands at the back of his neck and pulled herself forward. Soon, his lips came crashing down on hers. Caleb drew her in, wrapping his arms around her back. He pressed his body against hers and felt her slight weight slacken in his arms once their tongues had darted out to explore each other more thoroughly.

It was breathtaking and maddening.

Hanna finally broke away from their kiss and clung to his wet body, leaning her forehead against Caleb's neck while she took in as much air as she could, breathing in with it the faint smell of his aftershave.

His hands traveled all the way down to where her tight-fitting dress covered her bottom, and he pushed it against his groin, fueling his fire.

Hanna lifted her head and found Caleb watching her catch her breath, his own breathing coming fast and hard. She reached upward and kissed him again, unable to keep her mind focused on the fact that they were ravishing each other on public display. It felt as though she had been aching for this forever.

Caleb moaned as Hanna attached her lips to his once more and his hands wound their way under the jacket so he could feel more of her body, but they only made contact with the damp fabric of her dress. So they moved further down to where the slit gave way to the creamy skin of her thigh. There he let one hand dip below, stroking over her skin until it came to rest at the back of her thigh.

They held each other, eyes closed, mouths clasped, her hands exploring his body fiercely. No words were spoken or needed.

She drew in a breath to speak, but Caleb had already turned his attention from her lips and was now trailing hungry, wet kisses along the sensitive skin just below her jaw and around towards her equally responsive ear.

Hanna shut her eyes and clung to him, unable to concentrate on anything but the way her body was feeling.

Just then, a door opened and an older woman stepped into the hallway. Within a split-second, Caleb and Hanna pushed themselves free and leaned back against the wall with their arms folded at their backs.

Caleb recognized her as Maddie's mother, Ruthie. She eyed them suspiciously, but walked by without speaking and pressed the button to call the elevator.

Waiting for the car to arrive, she turned around to the young couple and looked at them with concern on her face saying, "You know you should go inside. Don't want to catch a cold, my dear."

Another _ding_ announced the arrival of the elevator on their floor. Stepping inside, Ruthie hesitated shortly and winked at them. "Don't worry. The walls are thin here, but I won't be back for another hour. They're serving cake now."

At that, she grinned broadly and then her head disappeared from view, and Caleb and Hanna were alone again, with the feeling of utter mortification quickly disappearing. Both shook their heads and chuckled.

Hanna bent down to pick up her shoes and purse again. Then Caleb grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door of their suite.

In no time, she had opened it using their key-card. As soon as the door slammed shut behind them, their hungry mouths were back on each other, attaching firmly.

Hanna set her body in motion throwing her purse and then her shoes away.

Caleb followed along reaching for her jacket and pushing it from her shoulders. It landed in a wet heap on the floor.

Shortly afterwards, his shoes were being kicked off one after another. Breaking their kiss, Caleb reached down and took his damp socks off, all the while their bodies were stumbling awkwardly through the darkness.

Mouths still clasping and unclasping fervently, he followed her lead almost mindlessly. She walked backwards and he forward as they moved together through the main room of the suite and directly towards the bathroom, the tossed pieces of clothing leaving a trail behind them.

As they arrived by the door, Hanna's back bumped against the wall and accidentally touched the light switch, instantly turning on the ceiling light in the bathroom. Hanna reached behind her to turn it back off, but Caleb cut in, saying, "No, don't. Leave it on… I wanna see you."

Trying to adjust their eyes to the sudden brightness, they hesitated to move on, looking at each other with desire in their eyes. Then Caleb gently took her by the arm and turned her around, so he could pull down the zipper at the back of her dress.

He pulled tentatively, not wanting to rip the precious embellishments inwrought in the thin fabric. With every inch the zipper moved downward, Caleb revealed another small part of her back, pausing once and again to caress the faint remnants of her burn injuries, clenching his teeth just at the thought of her having had to endure all that pain, at the thought of not having been there for her to help her.

It was then that he noticed she wasn't wearing a bra. The image of her top-less torso flashing through his mind helped turn his anger into something different. Suddenly, he became painfully aware of his erection, pressing against his still wet pants clinging tightly to his body.

Trying hard to keep his arousal under control, he concentrated on her zipper again, pulling it all the way down to where the curves of her butt became apparent. Then he slid his hands inside of her dress and pushed the sleeveless garment down her arms that had started to shiver again from the sensual treatment her entire body had been given.

The dress fell down on her feet, and she scrambled to free them, taking steps to her side while turning her body around so she could now start undressing him.

For a moment, Hanna confidently allowed him to adore her naked body.

Caleb felt Hanna's hands on his chest, traveling down to the waistband of his tuxedo pants, pulling at the hem of his wet button-down shirt. He groaned at the contact when her lips were brushing against his once more. He returned the kiss with vivid passion.

Wrenching his mouth from hers, he looked down on her again. Her face was flushed and damp, both from the rain and passion of their encounter. She was breathing hard and fast, as was he, and their eyes locked for an instant.

Barely a heartbeat later, they were both fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

Most of the fastenings came undone easily, while in their frantic attempt to get this dreary task over with as fast as possible others offered resistance, testing both Hanna and Caleb's patience to a degree of indignation.

Tearing on the piece of clothing, the rest of the buttons finally flew open, and Hanna replicated his movements by slipping her hands inside, pushing the shirt over his shoulders so she could grasp at the hot damp skin underneath.

Caleb removed the shirt from his arms as quickly as he could, unwilling to be away from her touch any longer than necessary.

Their mouths found each other again even as their hands wound down between their bodies. Caleb worked to unbuckle his belt, while she fumbled with the clasp of his pants.

Hanna finished unfastening his pants and began working on his zipper. The loud gasp of pleasure that accompanied her discovery of his erection sent shivers of delight racing across her pelvis.

She helped him out of his pants, tossing them to the floor. Finally, there was nothing but a straining pair of black cotton trunks separating him from her touch. Hanna traced the outline of his erection with her fingers while she leaned forward and captured his mouth desperately with hers.

Caleb moaned and assisted Hanna as she slid off his trunks, and these, too, were quickly dispatched, seconds before her own damp lace panties.

At that, both took the few remaining steps to the shower and before long, the warm water was rushing down and over their bodies. For a few moments, they just stood and held each other, letting the pleasant spray and the close physical contact combined warm them up beyond normal body temperature.

While applying a dab of shower cream on her skin, Caleb's hands started caressing her, first her shoulder blades, then her stomach, and finally her bottom, saving the best spots for later, knowing that it would drive Hanna mad.

"Hanna, you're so incredible," he said hoarsely just barely above the noise level of the shower above them, seemingly lost in a lust-induced daze. But the way he was looking at her said more than his words. He wanted her so desperately. He had been wanting to tear down her dress ever since she had presented it to him earlier in the evening.

She lifted and moved her pelvis against his erection which was pressed between their lower bellies. They each began to move in slow circles, driving themselves and each other insane with need.

As Caleb felt the warmth spread from his groin, he felt as if he couldn't get enough of this amazing woman. His hands were everywhere … grasping, caressing, fondling … and he moaned his pleasure as she touched him in the same hungry way.

Hanna sucked erotically at the curve of his jaw before continuing towards his chest and punctuating her words with wet kisses and nibbles on his skin. "You… looked… so… amazing…tonight."

When his hands grazed the sides of her breasts, tracing the path of the narrow rivulets of water there, Hanna made a small, stifled murmur in the back of her throat.

Something in that little tentative sound inflamed him beyond rational thought. His last bit of control slid away into all-consuming lust, and applying a little more pressure to her sides, his hands pushed her backwards until her back settled against the tiled wall of the shower stall.

"Oh," she shrieked, dizzy and excited by his boldness. His breath was hot against her skin as his mouth moved lower and lower.

Hanna moaned and turned her head down. She saw Caleb's lips close over her nipple. She watched the muscle of his jaw flex in the same instant that she felt the soft rasp of his teeth and tongue on her.

A few moments later, he gave her other nipple the very same treatment, causing Hanna to clench her hands that were gently combing through the hair at the back of his head into fists. Of its own volition, her head awkwardly bumped against the wall behind her when body started tensing from the arousal that was gradually building within her.

But then, he suddenly lifted his head and came up to face her again. His hand brushed a streak of wet hair to the side that was sticking to her forehead.

His other hand fumbled for the shower appliance and when it had found the right handle, he adjusted the water temperature to luke warm. Then he raised his hand to her face, cupping it gently and his thumb tenderly traced the outline of her full, wet lips.

With his gaze fixed on her face, the hand that had been in her hair just now moved downwards over her cheeks, her neck, her shoulder, her sides, until he broke the contact with her skin.

In the next instant, his fingers slipped between her slick folds. Hanna gasped at the surprise.

The tip of his finger pressed against her opening but didn't move to enter. Hanna breathed out hard, moaning loudly, "Yes." At that, he gleamed at her with mischievous eyes, pleased with her reaction.

His finger slid inside her and his thumb settled on her nub, circling it gently. Then yet again, he stopped his ministrations, causing her to groan desperately.

"I thought you just wanted to take a hot shower," he teased her erotically.

Hanna opened her eyes that had been shut the entire time to increase the feel of all the sensatory input on her skin. She looked at him incredulously, eyes pleading silently to stop torturing her this way.

Caleb leaned in and nibbled at her earlobe before whispering into her ear, "What do you want, Hanna?"

He worked a second finger into her, stretching her deliciously, and she tipped her head back again.

All she could manage was a suppressed whimper.

"Say it!" his mouth spoke as it hovered over her other ear.

Trying hard to get all the right muscles to do what they needed to answer his plea, she let out a strangled "You! I want you."

Just a second later, Caleb began to ease his fingers gently in and out of her, building a low tension in the small of her back. .

He fluttered his fingers inside her, and her arms grasped hard at his shoulder to steady herself. She brought one leg up and let her foot rest against the wall, thus giving his fingers more freedom to move.

His erection was starting to become painfully hard but this was something he wanted to endure for the sake of her pleasure.

She wanted to say something, but her mouth failed to comply. And then all words swirling around her head left her when he slid a third finger inside her. The stretch of her body and the movement of his fingers made her gasp and clutch at his shoulders as her knee threatened to give out beneath her.

Caleb watched the changing expressions on her face in fascination. For a short moment, he appreciated the bright light in the bathroom, grateful for the opportunity to fully experience all the nuances of her pleasure.

"I love you, Hanna," he said as his other hand continued to caress her cheek.

She answered with a groan as her body lurched closer to his. He had to take his hand off her face in order to support her as she started to convulse again and her mouth opened in a wordless cry.

Caleb took his fingers from her and gently nudged her to the adjacent wall. Never shy of making rash decisions, he quickly shoved everything that was standing on the built-in counter down to the floor next to their feet. Then, he lifted her until she was sitting on the slippery tiles.

She leaned back onto her elbows and awkwardly bumped against the wall for lack of space. Her entire body was shivering with the aftereffects of her climax.

He positioned himself between her legs and reached for the tap to turn off the water. Then he entered her with one smooth thrust until only the root of his erection was still visible.

He looked up at her, time and again mesmerized by the look of utter gratification on her face.

Their eyes met and he almost faltered, overwhelmed by a rush of love for her.

"I love you," he whispered tenderly again, and this time she managed to reply, "I love you, too."

He drew back, then pushed in to the hilt. Her groan matched his as her body tightened around him.

Caleb sucked in a deep breath and fought to keep his strokes slow and even.

Impatient because he was going so slowly, Hanna tried to lift her hips but he placed one hand on her belly. "No," he pleaded. "I'm so close, I might not last."

His next thrust sent her sliding a little across the counter. Caleb took hold of her hips and did it again. This thrust pulled a low cry out of her. He did it again and her mouth opened in ecstasy.

He could no longer hold back a small grunt each time he drove into her. The pleasure was more intense each time, but his inability to bear it was growing just as steadily. There was a sweet tension building inside of him.

"More," Hanna groaned.

Caleb increased the speed of his thrusts and soon there wasn't time for driving away and coming back – it had all become mixed up together in one long sensation.

Hanna had given herself over to the sensational feeling of having him inside her. She watched the concentration on his face and listened to the soft groans and grunts he made as he was seeking his pleasure. It wasn't enough. The space between their upper bodies felt like an unbearable gulf. Hanna put one hand behind his neck and tried to pull him down for a kiss.

Caleb lowered his upper body to return the kiss. He kept his lips attached to hers while moving his hips to try and reestablish his earlier rhythm. As he moved inside her, Hanna suddenly arched up and made a sound that was almost a wail. Caleb shuddered to a stop, fearful that he had hurt her.

"Oh god, yes," she almost yelped, "Don't stop!" She let out another groan when he moved against her again. At this angle her clit was rubbing against him each time he pushed into her.

Her gasping, gulping struggle for air and the blazing desperation in her eyes told Caleb that she was so very close on the edge of falling over yet again. He continued his thrusts and brought is head back to her breasts. He took turns, suckling hard on her nipple and slightly grazing on them with his teeth, until her entire body stiffened and she let out a suppressed cry

Unable to wait a moment longer, Caleb pulled her into a sitting position. She closed her legs tighter around him, her head flopping back, her arms clutching to his shoulder.

She breathed fitfully when the new angle was almost too overwhelming for her sensitive, swollen nub.

It only took him a few more frenzied thrusts until his own orgasm washed over him, and gradually slowing down his movements, he released inside of her in spurts.

They stayed like this for a long moment, as their breathing became calm and regular again.

When she was too drained to manage on her own, Caleb helped her get off of the counter, and turned the water back on, washing the blended film of sweat, soap and water droplets off of their bodies.

It wasn't long before Caleb grabbed a large towel and thoroughly dried her off with it before repeating the procedure on his own body.

Hanna stepped out of the shower and proceeded with getting ready for bed.

Soon, the lights had been turned off and they were standing on both sides of the bed, pulling the bedspread off and tossing it to the floor. Then they climbed under the covers.

Their bodies instinctively found themselves cuddled up in each other's arms. They turned their heads around to face one another one more time before succumbing to sleep.

"Thank you for this wonderful day, Caleb," she said sleepily and yawned.

He kissed her lovingly and whispered, "Sleep tight, baby!"

After mumbling quietly "See you in the morning," she looked at him intently before closing her eyes and entwining her legs with his. Lastly, her free hand came to rest on his stomach and within no time she was fast asleep.

Gently stroking over her still slightly damp hair, Caleb kept replaying her last words in his mind. The sentence had stirred a memory.

Somewhere at the back of his mind, the image of the two of them living together in New York and having that exact same exchange every night before falling asleep for almost two years reappeared, and it affirmed him that coming back to Rosewood and moving in with her so soon had been the best decisions he'd ever made in his life.

With an expression of languorous bliss on his face, he, too, fell asleep, at long last.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _That was chapter 9, I hope I didn't let you wait too long and also that you enjoyed reading. Thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers. Every review is highly appreciated and really means the world to me._

 _Zip_

 _EDIT: I forgot to credit the wonderful lyrics used in this chapter to one of my favorite singers, SADE._


	10. Chapter 10 - SUNDAY morning

**Chapter 10 – SUNDAY morning**

„Hey! Wake up, sleepy head," a low whisper filled the quiet of the morning.

Caleb leaned his upper body over Hanna who was lying on her stomach with her head turned away from him and still sound asleep. He nudged her temple with his nose, layering feather-light kisses on her earlobe and slowly stroking the soft skin of her arm that was lying bent next to her head.

She didn't even stir.

When he softly murmured"Hanna? Do you wanna go for a walk on the beach? It's beautiful outside," a mumbled "mmmmh" was all the response he got from her at this moment.

His head hovered above her face and he kissed the tip of her nose lightly. This caused her to turn her head around looking in the opposite direction, and it came lying buried under her long ruffled hair.

Caleb chuckled at the sight and brushed her hair away so he could see her full face at last. She looked so peaceful, so completely at ease, he faltered waking her.

But then again, he wanted to talk to her before they went to have breakfast with Mitch in order to get her opinion on the whole Washington job issue.

Another soft kiss landed on her cheek. "Good morning, beautiful."

At that, the corners of her mouth twitched a little bit, eventually forming a small smile. However, Hanna didn't open her eyes, instead kept him guessing the status of her wakefulness.

He decided to try a different approach and pulled the covers down to reveal her naked back and bottom.

He was instantly turned on by the view of her tan and perfect shape.

 _On second thought…_

The beach could wait. It would still be there after breakfast. It would still be there for another million years to come.

But the perfect opportunity only came around once.

Through the thick of her hair, he started nibbling at her neck, and Hanna instantly giggled, squirming a bit. "You know that tickles…"

Caleb laughed softly, the sound vibrating against her jawbone. "I know…," he breathed hovering above her ear.

But still no signs of further movement on her side.

He nuzzled her some more, his morning stubble brushing roughly against her sensitive skin.

Shifting a bit, he came to lie above her back and slowly retreated downwards, showering little kisses along the course of her spine, supporting his weight on his forearms. His hands traveled the short distance to where her body was, dipping below her sides to feel for her breasts, eventually splaying his palms over their shape.

As soon as his hands had made contact with her nipples, Hanna's arms were covered in goosebumps, her body reacting to being exposed to both the cold of the room and the touch of his soft hands. He could feel the hard buds pressing into his palms.

She stretched along his body, her muscles tensing. Caleb watched her through half-closed eyes while continuing to trail her back with kisses as light as the touch of a butterfly.

He saw her back arch beneath him. He saw her eye shut tightly in utter faith, and he saw her hands dig into the thick pillow beneath her head to withstand the light spasms that occurred when he reached the ticklish stretch of skin at the small of her back where the luscious curves of her butt cheeks began.

When the tension became unbearable for her, she slowly turned around to lie on her back. Caleb helped her by lifting his hips to allow her more space to move. Yet the side of her thigh touched his throbbing erection, sending little jolts of electricity through his body.

Hanna noticed his pent-up arousal and instantly let her hands go around his neck to pull him closer.

Caleb saw her eyes, now wide and alert, shine with love. He saw her full lips part and felt himself drawn to them.

"Good morning …" she whispered, her eyes locking with his.

"Good morning yourself," he answered before his mouth closed over hers.

She loved kissing Caleb. She loved the way his lips pressed against hers, softly yet urgently. She loved the way his mouth met hers, like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together. She loved the way his tongue played with hers, first tentatively, then more insistently as the passion grew between them. Hanna felt herself drowning in the feelings and sensations.

It had often been like this when they were living together before, these early morning makeout sessions. The passion and desire rising quickly between them, both of them needing to be together physically.

She grasped his erection and guided the tip to her opening. Her breath was shallow and ragged.

Caleb gasped for a second and then grinned at her, enjoying it tremendously when she took the initiative to speed things along.

Hanna moved her hips so that his tip was just inside her. She held him there, loving the feeling of anticipation that was beginning to build within her. Her one hand went around to the small of Caleb's back. She pressed, telling him wordlessly what she wanted.

Caleb smiled. He slowly entered her, filling her, taking delight in her soft moans of pleasure, stretching her completely until he was fully inside her.

She gasped for air, enjoying the feel of him on top of her and inside her. Her arms went around him, pulling him even closer, as if that were possible. Slowly, she tightened her inner muscles and smiled at Caleb's groan in response. She squeezed again, feeling the familiar tension building.

She squeezed once more, Caleb responding with an even deeper thrust. He raised himself off Hanna slightly, looking down at her, seeing the flush of color on her face. He brushed a strand of hair back from her face all the while continuing to thrust his hips forward and back, creating the friction and drive that he desperately needed and that he knew Hanna craved. He quickened the pace and reached between them to stroke her clit.

His touch on her took Hanna over the edge into a pool of pleasure and ecstasy. She moaned as her orgasm came over her and her muscles involuntarily spasmed, clenching around him, urging him to follow her.

He thrust once, twice more before he shuddered, spilling his warmth into her, feeling the final tremors go through her body.

They both gasped for air as they slowly returned to reality, sharing sweet little kisses while still basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking, exchanging loving glances.

Caleb carefully withdrew from her, moving off of her and onto his side of the bed.

Hanna shifted to lay her head on his chest, listening to the still ragged beat of his heart, matching her own. He hugged her tightly, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

And for a while, they just lay still and let the minutes tick by. None of them dared moving, content in each other's arms.

But then, glancing at the clock on his phone lying next to him on the night stand, Caleb realized that they would have to get up now if they wanted to make it to their breakfast appointment on time.

If he really wanted to work for Mitch again, he wouldn't want to make a bad impression by showing up late for business negotiations.

"Han, I'm gonna go have a shower. I won't be long."

"Why don't we take that shower together?" she teased him, lifting her head to look at him.

"Because I want to talk to Mitch and I don't want to be late. He really doesn't like that as far as I can remember." He combed through her silky hair using his fingers, then added, "And if I get into the shower with you, I just know that we're not gonna make it out of our hotel room for the rest of the morning." He smiled at her, his eyes begging for forgiveness.

Hanna released him from her tight grip. She knew there was no need to feel disappointed as they had had a wonderful time already before they went to sleep and again right after waking up.

No, there really was no reason for regret. But she somehow dreaded being confronted with Caleb's life and job choices, she so desperately wanted to have a say in, but didn't know if she had any right to do so after the short time they had only been together again.

Caleb brushed a final, tender kiss against her lips and sighed before he got up at last and strolled to the bathroom, disappearing inside to take a quick shower.

Hanna rolled over to her side of the bed and pulled the covers back over her body. Then she picked up her own phone that had been sitting on her night table, unnoticed for the past twelve hours. She looked at the display and saw that she had received a text message from Spencer late last night, telling her she would be released from the hospital Monday morning, but also asking if Hanna and Caleb had heard anything about Toby and Yvonne's medical conditions.

Her fingers danced across the keypad, typing in a short message, offering Spencer a ride home from the hospital and telling her that she hadn't heard anything from Toby yet, before her gaze accidentally fell on the moving shape behind the wall-high window.

She settled back against the pillow and enjoyed the view with a grin on her face, knowing he also was very well aware of the situation.

Minutes later, Caleb came back to her bedside, wearing nothing but a bath towel wrapped around his waist. He chuckled when he saw that Hanna didn't make a move to go to the bathroom, clearly acknowledging that she had been watching him all along.

"'like what you saw?" he couldn't help teasing her when he noticed her dreamy look.

"Always," she breathed right back.

He sat down on the edge of the bed right by her side. "Hanna? I promise I'll give you the full floor-show as soon as we're back home, locked in our bedroom… for all I care… or not... And I know that you're scared of what's to come for us."

His eyes searched for hers. He continued with a sincere voice "But you see, this is a really great opportunity for me to get back into a job someday that I might be really good at. And I just wanna hear what he has to offer. I'm not gonna sign anything today. Not before we've talked about everything."

At that, she finally looked at him, feeling her worries fall off her chest, saying "All right. I understand." She kissed him and added, "I'll hurry up."

Caleb approvingly closed his eyes while she slid down to the end of the bed, shoving the covers to the side, revealing her naked body. Then she walked over to the bathroom, feeling his eyes on her body all the way across the room.

When she stood under the hot spray of water, she considered giving him something to think about, as she knew for sure that he would be watching her through the window just like she had. But she quickly dismissed the idea when she remembered her situation standing on the pier the night before. She remembered thinking that she was willing to give him the chance to go and pursue his own career. She didn't get to tell him that last night. But she would make an effort to let him know that now.

She hurried up to finish her shower so she would be ready on time to show him she was going to be supportive.

Caleb knelt by his suitcase thinking about what to wear. For a second, he caught a glimpse of Hanna behind the window.

He cringed at the enticing view, but then he pulled out a neatly folded pile of casual pants and shirts from the suitcase while inwardly letting his mind ramble about different set-ups for the time when they got home again. And that gave him something to look forward to.

 **XXXXX**

Caleb and Hanna spent the next hour and a half discussing job openings at Mitch's _IT_ _Security Solutions Company_ , sharing a large round table by the picture window with a view over the vast spread of greens belonging to the hotel's golf course.

Hanna sat listening while Mitch explained the progress his company had made in the time after Caleb had left, stating the great beneficiary system for working mothers and fathers, flexible hours, home office, and over all making a really good impression on her.

They were joined by a very tired looking Maddie who, however, beamed at her husband the entire time, pleased he had gotten her favorite breakfast pastry for her.

Her good mood carried over to Hanna who was starting to relax at the prospect that maybe she had had nothing to worry about. But then the topic came to finding the right position for Caleb to fit in, meeting his expertise and experiences.

And even though Mitch's company had about a dozen subsidiaries on the east coast, there were only two job openings matching Caleb's expectations.

One in New York and the other one in Washington, D.C.

Caleb let him explain the details, responding with a courteous nod here and there, but not giving away anything about how he felt when it came to the numbers on his potential pay check, inwardly taking into account that Mitch turned out to be a generous boss yet again.

Just when the details about the jobs were beginning to bore Hanna causing her to look away and watch other people in the hotel's exclusive sunroom, another guest joined the breakfast party.

Flopping down next to Hanna in a wicker chair that she had pulled over from the neighboring table, Ruthie laid her hand on Hanna's arm and leaned in close by her ear, whispering, "Don't worry, my dear. I can tell by the way he looks at you that he's not going anywhere."

Hanna, surprised by the sudden intervention by this basically unfamiliar person, glanced up at a pair of crinkled, yet friendly eyes, amused by the look of bewilderment in Hanna's own eyes.

"Oh, you wonder how I know?"

Hanna frowned at her, whispering back, "I'm sorry, but… Who are you?"

Ruthie continued to pat her arm, snickering. "Mitch, have you tried the new Italian fully automatic coffee machine they set up at the buffet just now? Would you be so kind and bring us a round of fine Italian espresso? And take Caleb with you, he'll help you carry."

Mitch, ever the polite son-in-law, got up and turned his head to Caleb, "Caleb, you heard my mother-in-law. She needs some alone time with your girl." After leaving the table, he checked to see if they were out of earshot and shaking his head at Ruthie's relentless humor he said, "She hates coffee."

When the men had been half way to the buffet area, Maddie got up as well and left Hanna and Ruthie alone to fill up her plate at the buffet.

Caleb followed Mitch to the side of the room where the buffet was set up. He watched him comply to his mother-in-law's wishes anyway, chuckling at the way his possibly prospective boss was taking his time on purpose, allowing the women to have a heart-to-heart without the two of them listening in.

Hanna sat in her chair feeling slightly uneasy. She picked up her Danish and started nibbling on it only to feel like she had something to do with her hands and mouth while Ruthie thoughtlessly closed in on her.

Ruthie watched the rest of her family from afar, then turned around to look at Hanna again. "Hanna, I'm getting straight to the point here. Mitch values Caleb, more than he likes to admit. I know my daughter's husband. He's a good man. And actually a really good boss. Your boyfriend Caleb is humble and decent. He kind of reminds me of my late husband. He always did what was best for his family. So you shouldn't worry. Mitch always manages to get the best people for his staff, so he's open for compromise." She winked at Hanna.

When she didn't show a reaction, Ruthie carried on "I took over this company from my late husband, Paul. He died when Maddie was in her sophomore year in college. You know, I had always had this idea in my head… of having my own law consultancy. But then Paul happened and I got pregnant and I postponed my plans until after Maddie would have finished college. However, there was this accident…" She had started to sob a little and now stopped speaking altogether.

Ruthie pulled a handkerchief from her purse. "The company was Paul's baby. He had very strict standards on who's allowed to work for him. It was written in the founding contract that the CEO had to be at least forty-five years of age with an array of work experience. But then he died and I was left to lead the company. Maddie never wanted to have anything to do with it. And I let her pursue her own career. It was only until just recently that I was able to sign over the company to Mitch."

She dabbed at her eyes, wet from the sad memories. Hanna swallowed, feeling uncomfortable watching her cry.

When she had shed a few more tears, Ruthie spoke on. "What I'm trying to say is… You have this idea in your head, am I right, dear?" Hanna just sat there nodding silently. "You want to do something great in business, put your own label out there?" She paused to wait and see Hanna nod her head. "Well, my advice for you is, don't throw it away. You never know if there'll ever be the right time to realize any of your plans. And if you wait too long, you might never get the chance again."

She took a sip from her glass of water and continued, "If you two love each other, you will find a way to make things work. True love survives everything. Take it from me, dear. Paul and I made it through the seventies, that's something." She giggled remembering her younger years.

"Have you two been thinking about having children?"

Hanna almost choked on her Danish and her cheeks turned slightly red. "No. We've only been together for a week," she explained.

Ruthie's eyes widened in astonishment. "A week? Oh my, you look like you've been together an eternity, like high school sweethearts, so attuned to each other," she beamed at her.

"Well," Hanna concentrated on tearing a piece from her Danish, uncertain about how much she was willing to go into details about her relationship with Caleb to a complete stranger. "We had been together for four years before we broke up three years ago."

"Ha, I knew it," Ruthie grinned at her, "And you found your way back to each other after three years apart?" She laughed out loud, leaving Hanna bewildered.

Not even waiting for Hanna's response, she stood up and emptied her glass. Then she leaned down saying, "I saw you last night. You two clearly look like you are very much in love. And you both still have the hots for each othe. That always helps, too. Mark my words, you're doing fine. Just remember that a relationship is a two-way street. It's about making each other's dreams come true."

At that, she grabbed her purse and winked at Hanna one last time before she walked away just as Mitch and Caleb were returning with steaming beverages. Hanna looked after her, lost in thought.

"Sorry, that took a little longer." Mitch explained. "The directions for use were in Italian, so we were screwed and had to call a waiter to help us out."

Seeing Hanna so quiet and preoccupied, Caleb put a miniscule mug of espresso in front of her and sat down next to her again, asking "Hey, is everything all right? Sorry I left you alone for so long." He smiled at her, and Hanna tried her best to return the facial expression.

"Yeah. No. I'm fine. Did you and Mitch get to any sort of agreement by that coffee machine over there?"

 **XXXXX**

Instead of answering her question, Caleb had winked at her asking if she'd like to take a walk to the beach when they were done with their espresso shots.

And so they were headed for the beach yet again, but this time there was no storm raging in the sky above them. It was a bright and sunny day, and Caleb found the weather matched his mood.

Within just a few days, his world had turned completely upside down with having Hanna back by his side. Just being able to bare their souls to each other and reveling in the physical closeness all over again was everything he needed right now. No job in the world could outweigh the tingling sensation in his belly every time he looked at her. There was no way he could ever have a long-distance relationship with her. That just wasn't enough for him. And talking to Mitch had made that pretty clear to him.

Now it was time to involve Hanna in this decision.

After they had reached the strip of sand behind the beach road, Caleb laced their hands and led them closer to the surf. There, they stood looking out at the sea, musing in silence, enjoying the breeze.

The issue of where they were headed from here was out there, untouched. Hanna came in first asking the unuttered question, "So, how did you decide?"

Caleb turned his head, looking at her face still looking into the distant horizon from the side. He moved their clasped hands, motioning in the two different directions, asking, "This way or that way?" meaning for them to continue their walk.

Hanna followed the movement of their joined hands with her eyes, trying to decide, squinting her eyes to see clear in the bright sunlight.

To their right side, the wooden structure of the pier could be made out in the far distance. There were a few people on the pier and fishing rods stood propped up against the rail. But it would be a long walk. How in the world had she managed to get there last night?

To their left lay the vast stretch of a deserted beach. Miles of sand as far as her eyes could see.

"Actually, I don't really feel like walking. I keep getting sand in my shoes," Hanna said with a whiny voice.

At that, Caleb chuckled, shaking his head.

 _That's my girl._

"Okay, then why don't we sit?" He didn't wait for her answer, but instead took off his jacket and laid it down in the sand for them to sit on. She plopped down on the make-shift blanket, and he followed after her, sitting to her right.

He instantly laid his left arm around her shoulder to pull her closer, and also to draw from her warmth. Even though the sun was shining today, the temperatures were low, and he had only put on a t-shirt in the morning. There was a steady cool breeze coming in from the east, causing their hair to ruffle up.

Hanna laid her head on his shoulder. Her mind was racing, thinking a thousand thoughts a minute of why he wouldn't answer her question in the first place.

Brushing a tousled streak of her hair out of his face and gently pushing it behind her ear, Caleb bluntly asked her, "Hanna, where do you see yourself one year from now?"

A surprised look on her face, she lifted her head again and turned to see him. Their gazes met.

His eyes bore a questioning look, yet exuded so much love, ultimately making her feel a little more at ease.

Hanna gulped and looked out at the sea again. Had somebody asked her that very same question a mere ten days ago, her answer would have come like a shot.

 _But now?_

So much had changed. Her prime suspect behind A.D. was dead, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that the nightmare wasn't over yet. Someone had pointed a gun at Spencer and didn't miss. Then Caleb had basically proposed to her the night they made up. She was still trying to wrap her head around this.

Sitting there in the sand, feeling his arm around her shoulder and his gaze on her face, she tried to imagine what her answer would be, had it been a real proposal.

After all, this was what his question where she would see herself in the near future was aiming at.

 _Wasn't it?_

But it was too soon for them…

All of a sudden, the answer was right there in front of her.

Maybe it had been there all along, ever since he showed up on her doorstep at the Radley Hotel, voicing his concern for her well-being after A.D. had stepped back into her life.

Caleb patiently sat waiting, combing her wild mane of hair out of both their faces every now and then, just to be able and see her beautiful face in full.

And the next moment, her mouth opened. "I picture myself surrounded by two things, in no particular order." Her eyes fell back on his face. Trying to sound sincere, she continued, "You and a job in fashion. That's what I want. I don't care where we live or how much money we make…" She stopped herself, collecting her trail of thought when his loving look almost made her confidence falter.

A small smile played around the corners of his mouth.

"Caleb, I wanted to tell you this yesterday, but somehow I couldn't because my mind was playing stupid tricks on me again. But I had a talk with Ruthie this morning, and she really made me see things clearly… made me realize what really matters to me right this moment."

Without taking her eyes off of him, she moved her arm up to grab hold of his hand that had been resting on her arm. Then she laced their fingers to support what she was about to say.

"You have already given me every chance to make my dream job come true."

"Well, not every chance," he tried cutting her off, but she wouldn't let him.

"No, please, let me finish. You paid for my college tuition, you moved to New York with me. Let me do the same for you now. If Mitch can offer you your dream job, I say you should take it. I mean I don't know if I'd be able to have my own business in Washington, but maybe I will. And if not, I'm pretty sure there's a job out there in fashion for me, too. I just have to-"

"Hanna?" Caleb calmly tried to stop her speech, causing her to frown at him. "I told Mitch I'm taking a rain check on signing a new contract with him. But he's keeping his door open for me."

He paused for significance, and Hanna shot him a skeptical look and asked, "Wh-"

Caleb cut her off, saying, "I'm giving you an entire year, so you can start your business in Rosewood and maybe make a name for yourself in fashion. Mitch wants me back and he's offering really good money, but I told him I needed another year. That's your window of opportunity. And when the year will be over, we'll just take it from there and see what's best for us. But whatever we'll decide, we'll do it together."

Hanna leaned over and kissed him. Her tentative brush against his lips soon turned more passionate, until their lips parted and both sat gasping for air.

Caleb cupped her chin, forcing her to keep her eyes on him. "When I look into my future, all I can see is you. After everything we've been through, I realized that I'm the happiest when you are happy."

Hanna looked down, smitten and at a loss for words, so Caleb had a chance to elaborate, "My job… or any job for that matter… that's just numbers and figures. It could never make me as happy as you, Hanna."

Her eyes were back on his now and the small grin on her face had turned to a sheepish grin.

Just what he had been waiting to see.

"I watched you last night… when we walked into that ballroom… how you were checking out all the dresses and accessories. The fire in your eyes was back. I felt like any moment you'd run off and ask people to switch heels and handbags."

At that, she had to laugh out loud. "Stop it, you know I would never do that."

He chimed in laughing with her, then stopped to watch her. "To be fair, you did tell Maddie her shoes would look good… in a different color!"

She remembered that conversation and turned red yet again. "Well, who wears brown heels to a charcoal dress?" She defended her audacity while at the same time thinking about Maddie's cool reaction, pulling out a spare pair of black heels from her oversized bag she had brought along _just_ _in case a heel broke._ The memory made the corners of her mouth twitch.

"You see, that's just what I mean. I love it when you smile. Your beautiful smile on those damn perfect lips… That's all I need to make my day a little better. See, I'm sitting here shivering and yet I'm not feeling cold at all."

Caleb removed his arm from her shoulders and stood up, holding his hand out for her. Hanna took it and got up as well. He put his arms behind her back and pulled her closer. Their lips met again as they stood in each other's embrace.

Long moments later, Hanna broke the kiss, breathing "Do you know what I wanna do right now?"

"Does it involve a bed?" He whispered back, his voice hoarse.

Hanna scoffed at him, "No, for once it doesn't."

When he looked at her questioningly, she explained, "I wanna drive home and start drawing. My head has like a zillion ideas and I feel so energized right now. I really wanna show Lucas that the cheque he gave me is money well spent."

His eyes glistened, taking in the beautiful face of the woman in front of him, her hair blown every which way by the gusts of wind.

She was beaming, too, and he knew exactly why. It hadn't really been much of a sacrifice for him to say no to Mitch for now. Not if it meant Hanna would regain a small part of her old self, much less find delight in her life again.

With her arms still wrapped behind his neck, Caleb lifted her up, steadying his hold on her by crossing his arms behind her back, whirling them both around until the feeling of vertigo caused him to stumble and they both fell into the sand beneath their feet, giggling. Caleb had had the presence of mind to turn them over while falling so Hanna would not get hurt by his weight crashing down on her.

Enjoying the closeness of her body, he held her tight for a long moment.

"Sorry," he grinned at her.

"I love you," Hanna said smiling.

"I love you, too." He kissed her again before pushing his hand into the sand, gaining momentum to lift them both into a kneeling position.

As soon as they were standing on their feet again, Caleb picked up his jacket. Not bothering to put it back on, he grabbed Hanna's hand and pulled her along with him, saying "Now, let's get you home."

 _to be continued…_

* * *

Yay, it's finally done. Hope you enjoyed the continuation of Haleb's weekend getaway. And if you liked it (or not), I'd be happy to read a review from you. Thank you, as always!

Zip


	11. Chapter 11 - SUNDAY early afternoon

**Chapter 11 – SUNDAY early afternoon**

With Caleb driving the jeep back to Rosewood, Hanna used her free time in the car doing research, reading fashion blogs, and ordering fabrics online.

Every once in a while, she looked at Caleb who had been silent during the ride for most of the time, which was now fueling her doubts.

They had packed their stuff quickly as soon as they had arrived back in their suite and said goodbye to Mitch and Maddie, thanking them for the invitation and free accommodation. Caleb and Mitch had exchanged business cards and agreed to keep in touch. The older man had patted him on the back, giving him advice never to let go of a woman as special as Hanna ever again.

Ever since that moment, Caleb had been seemingly lost in thought, concentrating on the traffic and occasionally checking out what Hanna was doing in the passenger seat, an iPad and her phone propped up in her lap, wildly taking turns tapping on both devices in a high-spirited disposition.

However, his silence was starting to irritate her. "Is everything okay? You've been awfully quiet in the past hour," she approached him.

Caleb looked at her for a second before turning his gaze back to the street laying ahead. "Yeah. It's fine. It's just that… that I've been thinking for a while."

"About what?" she frowned at him. "Do you already regret your decision?"

"No!" He retorted strongly. Then he took her hand and brought it up to his lips, planting a small kiss on it. "I've just been thinking about where we would be now had I never left you."

He tried to smile at her but it came out rather awkward. He let go of her hand and put his own back on the steering wheel.

Hanna didn't know what to say. She looked at his face trying to read his mind.

"The only regret I'll ever have to live with is missing out on three wonderful years with you."

"We'll have so many more," she reasoned, putting her hand on his hand clutching the steering wheel. She squeezed it lightly to lend weight to her proposition.

„I know, you're right," he murmured. „It just makes me sentimental from time to time… that there have been so many things we weren't able to do in those years. Like traveling through Europe together."

"We can always go on another vacation. There are definitely some places left that I haven't visited yet, like…" She thought for a moment. "Hmm… Venice. Have you been to Venice?"

"Venice, California?" He teased her, knowing fairly well that that wasn't what she meant, but he longed to have a light-hearted conversation for a change.

Hanna rolled her eyes, "Venice, Italy, you doofus. Or how about St. Petersburg? I heard they have those beautiful white nights in the summer."

"Florida? I don't know." He couldn't help himself.

"Caleeeeeb!" She yelled exasperatedly.

"What?" Came his sheepish response.

Hanna looked out the window, picturing herself strolling through ancient historic sites hand in hand with Caleb and just trying to lead a normal couple's life again without A.D.

A certain image seemed to be projected onto the landscape racing past her, she kept daydreaming because it was so enjoyable… her wearing one of the summer dresses she was about to design for her own label… him being the well-informed tourist explaining everything to her just like he had done in all of their past vacation travels before, like in Thailand or Australia… them making love in sweaty hotel beds… holding hands… eating out in restaurants every day, trying new food.

"Have you been to Athens already?" came her bubbling question all of a sudden. There were so many places she wanted to discover with him. "I've read a bit about the really ancient sights there."

"Athens, Georgia? If you call two-hundred years ancient..." He chuckled, but then saw the annoyed look on her face and concluded, "And I'm gonna stop talking now."

"You know you can be real pain in the-"

He laughed out loud. At that, she remembered the last time they argued about each other's personal quirks, which had led to their reconciliation in the end.

"-neck," she finished her sentence.

"Oh, that's not what you called me last time. I must be doing better now," he tried to take her for a ride.

"If I remember correctly, you were the one listing off all the things you find annoying about me. So, tell me what was it about me again that makes you love me..." She still felt slightly annoyed that he seemed to avoid the topic of another European vacation for just the two of them.

"Hanna, these are just the little things I learned about you. They don't make me love you more or less, they're what makes you... you! Believe it or not, I do not only love you in spite of them but because of them. These little perks define who you are and as that you're perfect in my eyes. Of course, it doesn't hurt that you are freaking hot, too," he winked at her.

Again, she consciously rolled her eyes. But then she accepted the compliment and smiled at him.

"I promise I'll try to gas up our car sooner from now on, though," she assured him in a mocking way, taking his hand into hers again. They fell silent and returned to their original activities with Caleb driving and Hanna doodling things down on her phone.

Just a split-second later, a familiar beeping sound filled the car cabin.

Caleb pulled over to the next breakdown lane. "Sorry, I totally lost track of things here," he tried to explain, but his attempt was lost on Hanna as she just burst out laughing and it wasn't long before he also started to crack up about forgetting to gas up the car any time sooner.

 **XXXXX**

The rest of the drive went by in a blur. They had stopped at the nearest gas station, sharing a greasy helping of French Fries while sitting on a bench in the sun.

After their little lunch break, Hanna had taken over the steering wheel and had thus gained control over the radio while Caleb soon dozed off from the emotional exertions this rollercoaster of a weekend getaway had brought about. The girly music sounding from the radio station that Hanna had picked out didn't help to keep him awake.

After they had arrived at their apartment building early in the afternoon and quickly unloaded their suitcases and bags, they carried their stuff up the stairs and dropped everything as soon as they had set foot in their living room, neither of them minding the mess when there were more important things to look into.

Caleb plunked down on the couch and put his keys on the table before him. Then he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, while Hanna purposefully strode through the living room, picking up all things needed to transform her fashion ideas into actual fashion designs on paper.

She put everything on the floor by the window and went to change into her comfy clothes, leaving Caleb behind who was watching her silently from the couch while checking his phone messages.

Once again, he admired her drive to pull through with whatever plan was maturing in the back of her mind.

"So, what are you gonna do for the rest of the day?" Hanna called through the half open bedroom door.

Caleb got off the couch and joined her in there. "I think I'm gonna visit Toby at the hospital and see how he's doing."

"Oh, well that's a good idea. Tell him I said hi, okay?" Hanna smiled at him while she wove her head through the narrow opening of a fuzzy pink sweater. She shrieked when she noticed he was standing right in front of her without having seen him come closer.

She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I'll miss you," she said in a high-pitched voice.

He scoffed. "No, you won't," he said laughing. "You won't even know I'm not there."

"Will you be back in time for dinner?" She asked, her hands playing with the hair above his neck.

"Why? Are you cooking?" He teased her. "You'd have to buy a new set of dishes first or actually clean the ones we already have."

Her fist came punching him hard on his chest. "Ouch," he exclaimed and patted his hand over the spot she had hit him on.

"Well, we both live here now. Why don't you clean them for me?" She smiled at him seductively.

He hesitated for a moment until deciding to postpone _that_ conversation to another point in time.

"All right, pizza's on me tonight," Caleb said and loosened his grip on her. "Have fun."

Cupping her face with both of his hands, he kissed her one more time before leaving Hanna alone with her coloring pencils and sketchbook.

 **XXXXX**

For the next couple of hours, Hanna awkwardly sat on the floor, her sketchbook lying open in front of her, filling itself with an array of colors and descriptions, sketches and fabric suggestions.

When the evening dawned, she got up to stretch her legs and put on the fireplace to have more light so she could continue drawing.

Caleb had sent her a text a while back asking which kind of pizza she wanted, but other than that she had been working uninterrupted for some hours. Now, her back was starting to ache badly.

Studying the pages she had already filled in her sketchbook, Hanna leant back against the settee by the window, stretching out and massaging her neck with her right hand.

Caleb had been gone for a long time already and she was beginning to question his whereabouts.

At that moment, he finally opened the door, carrying two pizza cartons and a small paper bag in his hands. The smell of peperoni pizza filled the air, causing Hanna to get up from the floor. Caleb quickly stuffed the paper bag that had been under his car seat for the last day and a half into the inside pocket of his jacket while Hanna was still busy cleaning up the mess around her.

Before long, she was done. She walked over to him and greeted him with a small kiss on the lips before grabbing the pizzas so he could take off his jacket. Then she walked back to her spot on the rug by the fire.

Caleb kicked off his shoes and went to the bedroom to store his jacket away in his closet. He took the bag out and hid it on the bottom of his sock drawer.

In the living room, Hanna shoved her utensils aside and put the boxes on the floor. Sitting back down again, she opened the lids and inhaled the delicious scent of her favorite food. "Thanks, you're really saving me here, I was starving," she said to him when he was back in the kitchen standing by the counter, opening all the drawers in search of a particular item. "Where have you been that long?"

When he had finally found the corkscrew, Caleb opened a bottle of red wine for them. He took the remaining two clean wine glasses from the cabinet before joining her on the rug and sitting down opposite from her. Then he finally answered her question, "I had to run some errands. Nothing major, though."

They each ate their pizza and spent some time talking about Toby and Yvonne. Caleb told Hanna about their medical conditions and how things weren't looking good for Toby's fiancée.

Then he remembered the wine and filled their glasses. He handed her one and held his out for her to clink glasses with him.

"Here's to us," he spoke lovingly, looking her in the eyes.

"To us," she repeated hoarsely. The sound of their clinking glasses filled the silence. Hanna and Caleb took a sip of wine and then set their beverages aside again.

"So, how did it go here? Did you have the chance to bring everything to paper that was bubbling up in that creative brain of yours?"

"Yeah, actually it went really well. I definitely have something to show Lucas for when he goes to meet with potential investors," she told him.

"I'm glad," he said, taking a last bite of his pizza before closing the lid on the empty box and putting it on the settee behind her back. "You look very relaxed right now."

"Ugh, my back is killing me. I've been sitting like this for hours and my neck is so sore." Again, her hands moved to the back of her head and she tried to apply pressure to her aching muscles.

"Well, let me do something about that," he said, removing her arm from its massaging position, thereby almost knocking over his half full wine glass. "But why don't we take this over to the bedroom? It might be more convenient there."

Caleb reached for the remote lying on the other end of the rug and turned off the fireplace. He emptied his glass and got up to put it on the table in the alcove. Then he watched her do the same before crossing the living room and walking into their bedroom together.

"Okay, babe. Give me five minutes and let me take a super quick shower first. Why don't you make yourself comfortable?"

Hanna busied herself straightening the sheets on their bed. Afterwards, she picked up a range of clothes strewn all over the floor and put them into a laundry basket before lastly adding her fuzzy pink sweater and her baggy gray sweatpants.

Then she dimmed the lights and lay down in the middle of their bed, waiting for Caleb to reappear.

She didn't have to wait long, just as he had promised.

When he returned from the shower, he saw that Hanna was already expecting him, wearing a bra and panties only. He quickly dried himself off, then threw the towel in the direction of the bathroom door causing Hanna to roll her eyes about her futile attempts at keeping their apartment tidy.

However, there were other things to acknowledge in his favor.

Like that he did not even think about putting on any clothes right this second, but instead came crawling onto the bed naked.

Hanna watched his smooth moves. Tiny droplets of water were scattered on parts of his body where his towel accidentally forgot to go. Caleb's wet hair was glistening in the glow of the dimmed lightbulb.

And he smelled sooo good. Hanna closed her eyes in anticipation of the touch of his skin on hers. She couldn't wait for him to come closer. But then he stopped and came to a kneeling position right next to her butt.

Opening her eyes, she saw Caleb motion with his head and felt his hands take hold of her hips, and she understood his meaning. Hanna rolled onto her stomach, reaching out for a pillow to place under her head. She settled her weight into the mattress, sensing the cool, soft pillow against her cheek. A welcome change after sitting next to a blazing fire for some time.

Caleb's hands began an exploration of her back, starting at the edge of her underwear. Hanna felt his firm palm slide against her lower back as his thumb ran just below the lacy outline. Next, his hands moved in tandem, slightly north, and his thumbs rubbed soft circles into the small of her back. His hands spread wide, and his long fingers grazed her sides as his thumbs passed smoothly over her spine.

When his thumbs ran against the back band of her bra, she felt the mattress register his shifting weight, then felt him press a firm kiss between her shoulder blades. Kisses travelled around her shoulders and the back of her neck as his palms rubbed over the band. His weight shifted again as he retreated slightly and brought his fingers together at the clasp.

She heard him draw in his breath and hold it for a moment, then felt the tug as he unclasped her bra. He expelled the breath in a reverent sigh as his fingers pushed the two halves of fabric outward to the mattress.

For a moment, his hands left her body, and Hanna turned around to see where they had gone. She saw him reach for a tube of panthenol lotion that he had picked up in the bathroom and laid out ready on the night table, and after putting a dab of it onto his fingers, he started spreading the soothing ointment carefully on the slowly fading wounds on her back, trying hard not to hurt her by keeping his touch as light as possible.

He let the soft tips of his fingers linger on a particularly large scar, gently stroking over the length of it as if to wipe it away.

She laid her head back down on the pillow and smiled at his pleasurable ministrations, reeling at the fact that he was always taking care of her well-being.

After all of her wounds had been tended to, he put the lotion aside. Then he got up and crossed the bedroom all the way to where his jacket had been tossed to the floor before. He reached inside one of the pockets and pulled out a small bottle. The content of which seemed indefinable from her vantage point, so she frowned at him when he came back to the bed.

Without an explanation, Caleb returned to his position straddling her thighs. Then he opened the bottle and let a few drops of massage oil fall into his palm.

Realizing his intentions, Hanna's facial features relaxed and she settled back down on the mattress.

The soft scent of lavender now filled the room, and Caleb rubbed his palms against one another to spread the moisture, thereby also warming up his hands to give her an even more enjoyable back massage.

He pressed his thumbs on the tense muscles on both sides of her spinal column, starting at her lower back. Applying a firm pressure, he let them slowly wander upwards. Hanna instantly felt her aching muscles relax.

Caleb's hands danced all over her back for several minutes, kneading the flesh, repeatedly rolling her skin between his fingers to try and unstiffen her fasciae.

A breathy moan passed from Hanna's lips as Caleb's hands reached her upper back and massaged her there, before skillfully continuing with her shoulders, and the muscles in her neck.

The moan turned guttural as Caleb pressed his chest against her and began to move down her spine, alternating licks and kisses along the way. His hands returned to her hips, grasping them securely, as his mouth reached the crook of her neck.

"I love you," she heard him say before he lightly kissed her flesh, a deep, rumbling timbre that sunk into her skin.

His head moved to the small of her back, showering little kisses along the way downward. A rough, hard tongue licked her, tingling the base of her spine in ecstasy. Molten hot, wet heat pooled in her depths as harder kisses pressed into the spot, over and over again. Her back arched away from his lips, too enthralled by the experience.

Caleb slipped his right hand around Hanna's waist and used his arm to guide her torso back towards him. As he did so, his arm lifted higher, pulling her body upright onto her knees as his tongue ran a firm lick up her spine.

Hanna moved her head to the side and for a split-second, their darkened eyes met. "I love you, too," she whispered back.

Caleb dipped his index finger into her cleavage, gripping the center of her bra between the first two knuckles, and slowly pulled it away from her chest, off her arms.

Hanna shivered slightly as the cool air of the room passed over her nipples. She reached her hands out and found the back of Caleb's hands, intertwining her fingers over his. Then she moved his hands up her body, over her breasts.

She moaned in bliss as she pressed her back into Caleb's chest and released his hands, allowing him to explore her on his own terms. She swiveled her hips backwards and ground her butt cheeks against his rigid penis.

She heard him whimper. The sound enthralled Hanna and compelled her to turn around to face him. She began to twist her body, and Caleb helped by taking a step back on his knees to give her enough room. She turned, sat down on the mattress, and stretched her legs to the outside of Caleb's body.

Caleb remained upright on his knees, his erection nearly at her eye level, and her tongue automatically darted across her lips. He pressed his palms under Hanna' thighs and pushed her legs into the air. His fingers ran under her buttocks and pulled at the edge of her panties, sliding the fabric towards him.

He pushed the panties up off Hanna' legs, letting his hands run firmly over her skin.

Tossing the black lace aside, Caleb lowered Hanna's legs down. Then he crawled towards her, causing Hanna to sink back onto the bed.

Hanna looked into his eyes as Caleb approached her and she found raw, carnal, fervent desire. He bent forward, cupping her breasts in his hands, rolling his thumbs over her hard peaks. He squeezed them in a sensual massage, earning a heated moan in return.

Next, he replaced his hands with his lips, his tongue, his mouth, treating her breasts to a torrent of rapturous sensations.

Her racing heartbeat slowed slightly when he released her breasts and began gently kissing his way down her torso. But as his mouth approached the top of her thigh, anticipation built and her heartbeat quickened.

Caleb used his hands to press outward on her thighs and settled onto his stomach. His head twisted left and he nuzzled her inner thigh, nipping at her skin with his teeth, then soothing the flesh with a lick of his tongue. He worked his way up to the juncture between her thigh and pelvis before brushing his wet hair across her as he moved his face to her other leg, the sudden change of textures and temperatures almost driving her insane.

More nipping, more licking, more sparks of delight burning their way to her core.

Then she felt him grasp her thighs and push her legs further apart. His thumbs were placed an inch away from her entrance. When he held her still, she dared to look down at him.

Caleb was staring at her. The look in his eyes was too intense and Hanna shut her eyes, rolling her head backwards. But another motionless moment passed and she raised her head to look down at him once more.

This time, his eyes brightened and he smiled. His eyes quickly shifted towards the juncture of her thighs, and then he looked back up at her. The smile turned wicked. Gazes locked, he slowly licked his solid tongue across her sex.

The titillation was too much to bear; Hanna squeezed her eyes shut and moaned deeply. She ground herself into the bed, grasping at the mattress with her hands, steeling herself against the waves of Caleb's stimulation. His tongue was so wet, so hard, so hot.

 _So close… so close…_

But suddenly, his mouth pulled away from her. A grunt of frustration escaped her lips and her hands automatically went to the back of his head, putting gentle pressure on him to return.

Caleb blew a cool breath of air over her clit and whispered, "Want something?"

The tease in his voice caused Hanna to snap. Passionate fire lashed out of her as she slapped the side of his arm, and then shoved him away.

Catching Caleb by surprise, Hanna quickly followed him up, and then she flipped him onto his back. She grabbed his wrists and thrust them over his head, pressing them firmly into the mattress. She pressed the length of her body against him and kissed his mouth hard. Her tongue demanded entrance as she took control.

Caleb moaned in rapture. No more teasing.

Hanna softened the kiss, softened the pressure on his wrists, softened the press of her body, and focused on deepening her emotional connection.

Warmth radiated through her body as she felt the connection magnify. She broke the kiss and hovered a breath away from his face, looking into Caleb's eyes as she drew up her hips, positioning his hard length just outside her entrance.

A thousand words were silently exchanged between them in the second their gaze was locked. Three small words weren't necessary. They were right there, written in their eyes.

Hanna slowly lowered herself onto Caleb.

They each gasped in the same breath.

Hanna slowly pulled back, and then lowered herself again.

They each closed their eyes in the same breath.

Hanna moved her hands off Caleb's wrists, propping herself up by placing her palms against the mattress around his head.

Caleb's hands moved to her hips, which rose and fell with her in a timeless motion.

They each moaned in the same breath.

All of a sudden, he lifted his head and captured Hanna's right breast in his mouth. He sucked hard, and then teased her nipple with his tongue.

She arched her back and pressed her chest closer to him.

Caleb's right hand moved from Hanna's hip and roamed over her butt cheek before softly grasping it.

Then he shifted his attention to Hanna's left breast and slid his left hand around her body to the small of her back, pressing down possessively with every thrust upward.

Few seconds later, they each forgot to breathe as a higher form of power took control of their bodies in unison.

Nothing else in the world existed beyond their merged bodies pulsing against each other like a strong heartbeat. Every nerve ending was triggered, every sense engaged, every sensation magnified by the intensity of the emotion behind it.

Hanna collapsed onto Caleb's chest and she lay still, unwilling to slip away from him. She felt his right hand move away from her body and up into her hair, lightly massaging the back of her neck again.

He moved his head to the crook of her neck, the spot on her body he had claimed for himself through a thousand kisses over the years and back again. Caleb pressed his lips onto her skin, suckling lightly, steadying himself with a firm grip from his hand behind her head as if it intended to stay. He could have that spot forever.

A measure of control returned to Hanna and she slowly lifted herself from Caleb, sliding off his body. She turned onto her side and embraced him in a half-hug: her head lay on his bicep, her arm wrapped around his chest, and her leg cast along his.

She felt his right hand move on top of her arm as if to hold her in place, keep the physical connection between them. She snuck a look at his face and saw that his eyes were closed. She wasn't sure she had ever seen his face look so peaceful, so relaxed.

She smiled and closed her eyes, snuggling deeper into the crook of his arm.

A minute passed before Hanna felt Caleb's head move, and she opened her eyes to look into his. They were still dilated, delicious hazelnut brown pools of desire, though the edge of desperation had disappeared from them.

His lips held a sated smile, as if his body lacked the energy to pull back the corners of his mouth towards his cheeks.

Hanna guessed that he would see that exact same look on her face right now… the look of utter tranquility. She wished she could preserve this feeling forever.

But then again, this was Rosewood. And the next day was looming just around the corner.

Maybe going away wasn't such a bad idea after all? Would they ever have the chance at getting a normal life in this town?

She was sure about one thing. Caleb would always be there for her, taking care of her and being her rock in the stormy sea. With him by her side, she would always feel safe… and sane.

Lost in thoughts, Hanna failed to notice that Caleb had drifted off to sleep. His arm that had been holding a steady grip on her back had gone slack, and his breath came even and regular.

Hanna disentangled herself from their embrace and made a beeline for the bathroom. After she had gotten ready for the night and put on a shirt and sleeping shorts, she stepped into the doorframe and looked at his sleeping shape. Then her eyes suddenly fell on the flowers in the vase on her bedside table and then to the small card attached to it.

The flowers were starting to wither and soon she would have to throw them away, which made her sad but she figured there would always be new flowers as Caleb had been the most thoughtful boyfriend in all those years they had been together before. But then her gaze fell on the card, the words on both sides of it still causing her heart to skip a beat. The card was unique. It was the first of such ever since they had gotten back together.

Suddenly, Hanna had an epiphany. She quietly crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Then she carefully removed the card from its slim plastic ribbon tying it to the stems. She looked at both sides lovingly again, holding the small piece of cardboard in her hand like a precious gemstone.

Well, that's what it was to her, anyway.

 _You can always count on me_. The gesture wasn't lost on her and it still amazed her. He gave her the promise of a new start to their relationship. The promise to try better next time.

This time. Forever and always.

She got up again and turned around to look at Caleb again. He hadn't stirred in the past minutes. She tiptoed to her side of the wall-to-wall closet and slid the door open.

Again, she looked over her shoulder to see if he was showing any signs of waking. With one hand holding on to her treasure, she knelt down on the carpet and let her free hand roam through the chaos underneath the clothing rail. Countless shoe boxes had been stacked one over the other, plastic bags had been stuffed into the cracks between boxes, not giving away anything about their contents.

But Hanna knew exactly what to feel for. In the second row at the bottom of the closet, right behind the box protecting her beloved cream-colored Valentino Garavani sling back heels she found what she had been looking for.

She put the card down on the floor.

One by one, she picked up the boxes that had been placed on top of the desired one and put them on a pile next to where she was sitting. She tried hard to avoid any noise as she didn't want to wake Caleb, at the same time thinking it wouldn't be that bad at all if he did. After all, she didn't want to keep any more secrets from him.

But this was a moment she wanted to have for herself.

Upon reaching the last box of the stack, she picked it up by its edges and carefully maneuvered it from its hidden place to the brightness of her bedroom.

Hanna sat down cross-legged and put the box in her lap. Her fingers softly touched the lid, welcoming its sight back into her life after three long years.

She had almost forgotten it had been there, hardly remembering it had been one of the few personal items she had brought to her new home after ending her engagement with Jordan because there was so much going on in her life then.

Looking at the inconspicuous cardboard box with its fringed edges, memories came flooding back through Hanna's mind. All the sudden, she felt overwhelmed with happiness.

The feeling of gratefulness had brought about silent tears, pooling in the corners of her eyes. Grateful for having had the presence of mind not to throw away everything from her Rosewood past when she had moved in with Jordan.

In her lap sat her Caleb memory box.

Everything from their four-year relationship was in there, all the memories, all the mementos, starting with the nondescript piece of Ella Montgomery's car that had been the very beginning of it all.

Hanna smiled at the fact that she had never returned it to Ella, not even when the threats from A. had ceased. Caleb had kept it for her in a rare moment of nostalgia and eventually had given the small piece of metal to her on their first one-one-zero-five anniversary.

Opening the lid caused her face to brighten up. She had not set her eyes on the contents for so long. At some point in her past, she hadn't been able to handle it any more emotionally so she had shoved the box to the back of her closet before putting it into storage altogether in New York.

Her hands roamed through the contents, shoving aside various movie theater ticket stubs from their carefree time of living together in the big city to the personal invitation that Caleb had designed for her twenty-first birthday party shortly before their breakup. That particular memory, at least the stuff she could remember from the time before she had gotten plastered that night, still held a special place in her heart. It had been the first time they'd had a serious conversation about wanting to have children together. They had agreed that it had been too early for them to get started then but at least they had both been assured they were headed in the same direction, relationship-wise.

She laid the piece of paper aside. Underneath a bunch of paper mementos she found another special item dear to her heart: a piece of charcoal, neatly preserved in a small translucent wrapper. She remembered picking it up from the campfire they had set up on the day of their first time in the tent. In the meantime, it had shed some miniscule pieces of cinder within the wrapper and she wasn't sure if it would dissolve in the next years to come, but Hanna would not throw it away if her life depended on it. That memory was for keeps and had to be preserved for some undisclosed time in the future when her mind might not be able to trace back to the event itself anymore. She hoped she would still keep the memory alive by looking at a tiny piece of wood.

A rather big item caught her glimpse. Her hands reached for the soft woolen beanie hat Caleb had often worn until the time he had had his fairly long hair cut shorter. He had wanted to give it to goodwill along with a bunch of other clothes but Hanna had snatched it right out of the bag meant for donation again when he hadn't been looking. It had sat hidden in her box ever since.

She gently stroked over the material one more time, smiling at the image in her head from their first months together. Caleb had been her first true love, the first boy she had ever really trusted. And he had done it without impressing her with money or status. At the thought she had to wipe away yet another tear welling up in one of her eyes.

She placed the beanie to the other items on the carpet. Its removal gave way to an item that almost took the breath out of her lungs. There it was, a dreaded memory but one she wouldn't want to let go of for the longest time until eventually the course of time had made her forget about it.

At the bottom of the box lay Caleb's old phone. The one he had left behind in New York after ending their relationship and storming out to travel through Europe alone.

For what felt like an eternity, she held the plastic bar in her hands, turning it over again and again. The display had gone black in the days following his rushed departure due to an empty battery. Hanna hadn't had the heart to recharge it since then, afraid of having to hear his trusted ring tone ever again.

She wiped some dust off the edges of the display. Funny how minds sometimes work, she thought. She could still remember part of his phone number. It had been etched on her memory for years because she had had to switch phones so often in her life, the beloved array of figures belonging to him like his social security number having always been the first she would type to add a contact whenever she got a new phone.

Lost in thought, Hanna sat on the floor and closed her eyes, considering to get rid of the phone now as it had long been replaced by a new model and a new number.

She didn't notice the pitter-patter of naked feet moving from the bed to where she was sitting.

All the sudden, a hand was placed on her shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing, babe?" came Caleb's sleepy voice from behind her.

Hanna jerked and accidentally dropped the phone to the floor, too shocked to shriek or yell anything. Caleb picked it up and sat down beside her. When he saw a range of familiar things both inside the box and strewn around Hanna's cross-legged shape, he realized it without having to wait for her answer.

"You kept my phone?" He asked in disbelief. "Through all these years?"

"Yeah," came her terse response. Feelings of embarrassment and pride started to mingle in her head. "I had wanted to throw it away right after you had left it behind, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't let go of this connection to you at first. But then I remember your mom had called several times asking about our trip to Prague and so I tossed it in a box." She spoke in a quiet voice, the memory of this period in their past still so vivid in her mind, it scared her. "It shut itself off two days later when the battery died."

Only just know she turned her head to look at him. "That was the last time I ever looked at it."

Her words caused him to raise an eyebrow and his eyes drifted down to the phone in his hands.

 _She had never gotten it._

He exhaled sharply and gulped.

 _She never got his message._

The realization hit him hard. He had wanted to address this issue a while back when they had been talking about their breakup which had led to them kissing in the cabin at the Lost Woods Resort. But he remembered they didn't get to talking any more as they had been interrupted by Ezra and Aria, reentering the room.

Wordlessly, Caleb turned the phone upside down. Then he got up and left the bedroom. When he came back he was holding a charger in his hand. He connected the charger to the phone and waited a few seconds.

Hanna watched him silently, a questioning look in her eyes every now and then.

The next moment, Caleb turned on his phone and thus brought the display back to life.

 _And there they were._

A picture of Hanna and Caleb smiling together at the camera graced the background of his phone display.

"Hanna?" Caleb started.

"Yes?" She replied, anxious to see what was happening now.

"There's something that you don't know, too." He hesitated, waiting for the overwhelming feeling to cry right now to pass.

"I had always assumed that you did know and that you just acted the way that you did because of the way I ran out on you."

When she looked even more puzzled, he hurried to wipe his way through his phone apps, eventually calling up his voice-mails. He searched for the message in question, then pressed the button to activate the speaker so they both could listen… and was almost surprised to hear it was still there after all these years.

His voice came in loud and clear… yet he knew that it had come from more than 4,000 miles away that day.

Hanna sat listening. Not understanding what was going on.

"Hanna? Are you there? I am so sorry. Do you hear me? I miss you so much and I wanna see you so badly right now. I'm still in Prague and I was wondering if we could meet up in Budapest. Please, think about it. I love you. I love you so much. Will you please come to Budapest? I don't wanna go on this trip all by myself, I need you here with me. Please. I'm so sorry I ran out like that, believe me. Please, call me, I give you the number of the hotel I'm staying at. It's zero zero four two zero two two six two two two six zero zero. Call me and we can work it out. I know I fucked this up. Please, forgive me. Please. I wa-"

At that, the message ended abruptly and a sudden _beep_ filled the room.

They both remained silent. Caleb's mind went back to the day he had placed that message. How he had been sitting at the bar in his hotel in Prague, waiting for a phone call that never came. At one point, the bar tender had sent him to his room, unwilling to sell Caleb any more alcohol. He remembered lying on his bed in his clothes for the next twenty-four hours, always ready to leave.

After that, his mind had come to the conclusion that Hanna simply couldn't forgive him and that any further waiting on his side was futile.

Hence he had continued his travels without her and had never dared mentioning his emotional outbreak again, concluding Hanna had been right about shutting him out for good. After all, he had been the one turning his back on her.

He studied Hanna's face, trying to read her reaction.

Her mind was reeling from the sudden turn of events. He had been begging for her to come to Europe, and all the while, she had had no idea.

Their gazes met, each of them at a loss for words, still grasping the new situation.

When what seemed like an eternity had passed, Hanna took the phone from his hand and turned it off again. She tossed it back in the box along with the rest of the stuff she had taken out. Lastly, her hand found the little note, and she gently placed it on top of everything inside the box. Then she carefully slid the lid back over it and placed it on the floor.

Her hand found his cheek and she wordlessly cupped it. She brought her face closer to his and whispered, "We're both idiots, you know that?"

Caleb furrowed his brow.

"You for being so damn rash with your decisions sometimes and me for dismissing an idea I had had the day after you'd left. I had thought about flying out to Budapest to surprise you, but then I got so mad at you… and sad… that I never wanted to hear or speak to you again."

"We'll go to Europe together one day, I promise you, Hanna." He got up and held his hand out for her to help her stand up as well. "Or Georgia, or California, or Russia, or anywhere in the world. I love you, Hanna!"

"I love you, too." She kissed him.

He laughed at her, inquiring, "Like a pain in the neck?"

"Speaking of which, I could really use another round. Would you mind?" She looked at him with her big blue eyes that wouldn't put up with a no.

"Another round of what?" He asked with glistening eyes.

Getting the notion, Hanna mischievously replied, "I'd say you start right up here," she pointed at her sore neck, "and then work your way down for as long as you can last."

At that, she lunged herself at him, unable to get by another minute without the feel of his skin on hers for a moment longer. Their lips met in a passionate kiss.

When the contact broke, Caleb looked at her with glazed eyes, "Challenge accepted. I've once waited three years, I might as well make it another three hours if that's what it takes."

Hanna quickly shed her clothes, seeing he was one step ahead of her, naked.

"I give us three minutes," she laughed before grabbing his hand and pulling him back onto the bed again.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _Another day, another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, reviews are highly appreciated._

 _At this point a kind thank you to Katey, Jane and Marion for inspiration and a chat session I'll never forget. XOXO! Zip_


	12. Chapter 12 - MONDAY wee hours

**Chapter 12 – MONDAY wee hours**

During the wee hours of the morning, Hanna woke with a start. She'd had a stupid dream about Caleb's phone ringing and dying over and over again before she'd had the chance to pick up and hear his sweet voice asking her to come back to him.

She laid her arm across her eyes as if to prevent the image from flooding back into her mind, groaning slightly due to the fact that her brain was still processing the events of the previous night. At the same time, she was wondering _why_ her brain was so determined to carry on thinking about it; she had dismissed the topic quite quickly after she'd learned the new information about that night and actually, didn't really want to broach the subject again.

No matter how much she thought about it, she could never change the course of their past.

Nor would it change how she felt about Caleb. He had proven that he was clearly sorry about what he had done.

Lying there in the dark, she decided that she still stood firm with what she had said to him during the ride back home from their weekend getaway. There were no hard feelings. They would make new happy memories together. Maybe they'd even take a trip to Europe together at some point.

And so, she wasn't at all bitter about him not having dialed _her_ number from Prague, thinking that he probably hadn't memorized it back then.

 _Well, maybe she was._ A little bit.

 _Aaaaaargh_. Groaning, she tossed and turned, looking for the spot on the mattress that would allow her to drift back to sleep. Just when she had found the most comfortable position, lying on her side with her eyes closed, a short buzz sounded in her ear.

She lazily opened one eye and picked up her phone, which was lying on the night table.

The clock read 5:02am. Who in the world was texting her at this hour? When she saw Lucas' name and his message on the lock screen, she groaned once more before putting the phone back down. _Not now_.

Hanna closed her eyes again, and tried to go back to sleep. But as usual, during her early morning insomnia, all kinds of lists, errands, and unpaid bills popped up in her mind; the longer she thought about them, the farther she got from where she wanted to be. Asleep.

She turned around to look at Caleb. He was lying on his side, too, his arms awkwardly crossed in front of his chest. For a second, she smiled at him and thought that maybe he was hugging her in his dream. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, so she dismissed the idea of cuddling up close to him for fear that she might wake him up.

Finally, she gave up and got out of bed to go to the bathroom. On her way back, she grabbed the remote control for their small bedroom TV. She turned it on, and got under the covers again.

With the volume turned down very low, she flicked through the channels. Before long, she had found a documentary about the history of New York, and images of her favorite city filled the screen. Hanna settled back into her pillows, hoping that the monotone voice of the narrator, along with the familiar sounds of the city, would lull her back to sleep at last.

 **XXXXX**

Caleb woke to the sounds of honking cars and sirens, causing him to rub his eyes and seriously question his whereabouts. It only took him a second to realize that he was still in bed, and that Hanna was lying next to him, watching TV.

"Hey, you're up already? What time is it?" He brought his mouth to her head and kissed her temple.

"Only 5:17, go back to sleep," Hanna whispered back lovingly.

Caleb shifted to move closer to her, "What are you watching?"

"Just this documentary about New York. I thought it would help me fall asleep again. Turns out, it's not that bad," she explained.

Noticing that her eyes were fixated on the images on the screen, Caleb sat back, curious as to what was keeping her awake at this hour. A couple of minutes later, a commercial came on and Hanna pressed 'mute' on the remote; an eerie silence filled their bedroom.

Suddenly, Caleb felt the urge to tell Hanna about something; the images of New York that were flickering across the screen had triggered a memory buried deep within his mind. He scoffed lightly, before admitting, "God, I hated Manhattan. I hated the traffic, I hated the noise. I hated missing you when you were traveling the world. I hated having to go out alone in attempt to meet new people, Han." He spoke with a calm voice, intending only to let her in on some of the feelings that he had experienced during the time in which they were living there together.

"I didn't know you hated our life in New York that much," Hanna said quietly.

"I really tried to make it work, for you… for us. But we got to a point when I became really, really upset about the amount that you were working, and the toll it had started to take on our relationship. All the people working in the fashion industry, especially your boss, were treating you like crap, and you still kept running back to them." He noticed that his voice had taken on an agitated undertone, and instantly lowered his volume, "Sorry, I shouldn't have started this again. You know all of this, Hanna. I've told you a million times before, so I'm not gonna talk about it anymore."

Staring at a commercial about dog food, Hanna tentatively approached a slightly different subject, "So, if Mitch gave you the job in New York next year, would you definitely say no? Or say I had to relocate my business to New York… I thought you said you'd come with me."

Unwilling to speak to her without looking into her eyes, he attempted to regain her full attention, "Hanna?"

Upon hearing his soft voice, she turned around to look at him.

"Can we agree on something? If this fashion business idea doesn't work out, or if it does work out and you decide to expand it to New York, or if we decide that I should accept Mitch's offer… I'm totally down for it, I've already told you that. But can we get a nice place somewhere outside of Manhattan at least?"

Hanna's eyes widened. This was not what she was expecting.

He continued, "You'll get the best of both worlds, working in Manhattan and then returning home to a place that's a little bigger than a shoe box. And, best of all, a less grumpy version of me," He chuckled, looking at her expectantly.

Still attempting to process his words, Hanna asked, "You'd really go back to New York with me?"

"I'd do anything for you. How many times do I have to tell you that before you finally believe me?" Caleb reached over to let his thumb brush away a tiny tear in the corner of her eye.

A split-second later, her lips came crashing down on his. She broke their kiss for a moment, "I love you."

Caleb smiled back at her, recapturing her lips instead of returning the three little words. After a long moment, he pulled back to catch his breath. "Speaking of which, do you still have a place in New York?" He asked, curiously, "I don't think we ever talked about how you cut ties with Manhattan."

"Last time I was there I stayed at a hotel. The day I broke my engagement to Jordan was the day I removed all of my stuff from our… I mean, his apartment," Hanna responded, quietly.

Caleb looked around the bedroom, "Well, where's all of your stuff? I mean your clothes are obviously here, but where do you keep the rest? Books, posters, furniture?"

"Oh, it's in a storage unit on East 62nd Street. Jordan was kind enough to help me with everything."

"That was pretty generous of him," Caleb reasoned, "What did you tell him when you broke up with him?"

"At first, I was completely unreasonable, breaking up with him after discovering that some restaurant where we'd made important memories had been torn down. I had a mental meltdown that day. It was like a…" She hesitated, racking her brain for the right word, "An epiphany?"

He looked at her questioningly, "An epiphany?"

"Yeah. I saw the construction site where the restaurant used to be, and within a few seconds everything fell into place for me. I didn't want to marry Jordan. I just couldn't do it," she paused again, putting together sentences in her mind, wanting them to come out right.

"It wasn't meant to be. Jordan and I, I mean. That day, when I saw that the restaurant had been torn down, I realized that some things can simply disappear from one day to the next. And that's when I started thinking of you. You had disappeared in the middle of the night when you'd left for Europe. And then you disappeared from my life again, kind of, when you hooked up with Spencer. I just hoped that, even though I could never get a certain restaurant in Manhattan back, I might be able to get you back."

At that, Caleb looked puzzled. _When did she make any moves to win him back?_

"Um… What exactly did you do to get me back?" He asked incredulously, "Didn't you pretend that you were still engaged by wearing a fake ring? At least, that's what you told me. How was that supposed to help win me back? Were you working undercover?"

Hanna looked away, and thought back to the day that she'd decided to be the best friend she could be by putting Spencer's well-being before her own. Had she known about Caleb's lack of feelings for Spencer, she would have made a move sooner. But that's not the way that things had happened, and she couldn't turn back the hands of time.

When she didn't answer his question, Caleb concluded, "Damn, you must have been good. I didn't even notice anything."

She smiled sadly and tilted her head as she realized that he was mocking her. It was a while before she finally spoke, "I couldn't do that to Spencer. I knew how she felt about you. And I couldn't blame her for it. But I just wanted to be there, in case things didn't work out between the two of you." As the last words tumbled out of her mouth, she blushed.

"You were lurking in the shadows, waiting for us to break up? Hanna, one word from you and I would have come running."

"I never wanted to hurt Spencer. Or Jordan. Or you," She conceded with a sad undertone in her voice, "I didn't know you still had feelings for me."

"How could you not know? I kissed you at the Lost Woods, I thought it was quite obvious." Caleb tried to read her eyes, but she was avoiding his gaze, "But then A.D. kidnapped you, and you put your walls back up and shut me out," He said more to himself than to her.

"In all the time that we were together, I never told Jordan about A. or A.D. because I didn't want to drag him into this mess. It's stupid, I know. How was I supposed to share my life with him if I couldn't even tell him everything that was going on in it?" She scoffed at her own decision, "But I had been working so hard in therapy, trying to move on with my life, and I didn't want to think back to all those memories."

"Which brings me back to my question. What exactly did you tell Jordan when you broke up with him?" Caleb needed to know, wanted some closure when it came to the 'Jordan' chapter in her life. After all, she _had_ dropped that L-bomb on him at the Lost Woods.

"For two days after I had given the engagement ring back to him at that construction site, I slept in a hotel. Then I decided that I needed to face him again… I also needed to give back the key to our apartment. I knew that I owed him an explanation. He had always been good to me."

"So that's when you told him about A.D.?"

"No," Her eyes traveled back up, finally ready to withstand his probing gaze, "I told him the truth. Not about A.D., but the truth about something else."

Caleb looked at her, his eyes betraying his curiosity.

"I told him that I had loved him, but that there was a man in my life who I loved even more," She took a brief pause to let her finger trace the contours of his jawline, "Who I've been in love with since the day we shared a towel after involuntarily taking a very secret, very interesting shower together." Her face lit up, and a small smile played around the corners of her mouth.

"That long, huh?" A mischievous grin had appeared on his face as well, "I see."

Caleb lifted his hand to his jaw, and stopped her ministrations there by interlacing their fingers, "And he didn't have anything that could persuade you otherwise? No fancy car? No personal checkbook? No perfectly designed Upper East Side apartment?"

"He had all of that. But I never cared about any of that stuff. You above all people should know that."

"Yeah, I do," He spoke gently, pressing his lips against the tips of her fingers. "So, now what? Should we go to New York and get your stuff out of storage? We could bring it here, Lucas' apartment is big enough. I mean, it's like four times as big as our old apartment in the East Village." He looked at her with raised eyebrows, "We should really try to make this place a little more… _ours_ , don't you think?"

"I'll talk to Lucas and ask if we can move some things around, and redecorate."

"Ask him if we can make room for our old dining table," Caleb suggested with a glint in his eye. Then suddenly, those same eyes widened in shock as a thought crossed his mind, "You didn't leave it at his place, did you?"

Hanna started laughing as memories of the piece of furniture that had barely fit into their 2-bedroom place flooded her mind. "No, it's in storage, too. I wouldn't have left that thing behind even if he'd begged me to."

"Do you still remember the day we got the table?" He looked at their joined hands.

Then, Caleb was letting go of her hand before bringing it back to his a split-second later, this time ghosting his fingertips over hers, touching them then moving away before touching her again, tracing the length of her fingers with his. The sensorial input washed over her in a mixture of ticklishness and pure bliss.

"Of course I remember. How could I ever forget?" Came her whispering voice from close to his ear.

They smiled at each other at the memory. Both Hanna and Caleb allowed their minds to drift off, remembering the day that they had made their very first attempt at purchasing furniture together; their smiles soon turned to broad grins.

 **XXXXX September 2012 – five years earlier XXXXX**

 _It was a Sunday, two weeks after Caleb and Hanna had moved to New York. College hadn't started yet, and Hanna had been moping around all morning, not knowing what to do with herself; Caleb had been sitting on their fire escape balcony, clad in nothing but gym shorts, mindlessly playing games on his laptop._

 _Hanna had wanted to go out and discover Manhattan, knowing that before long, they both might not have the time to do so anymore – they would have college work, or weekend assignments to complete._

 _Whilst looking at that week's copy of 'The Villager', Hanna had seen an ad for the 11_ _th_ _Street Flea Market, which happened to be taking place that same day. And so she had convinced Caleb to go there with her, to look for some stuff that they could use to furnish their apartment._

 _They took the subway and strolled through the seemingly endless rows of antiques and lumber; at one point, they reached a vendor who was selling solid wood furniture. Almost immediately, Hanna had fallen in love with a dining table made of beechwood. It was in perfect condition, and the seller had told them everything about its restoration process. The tabletop had been sanded and varnished, making it look almost new. It was up for sale solely because the former owner had died, and nobody had wanted to keep it._

 _Hanna desperately wanted to buy the table for their apartment. They didn't own much furniture as they didn't really need any, aside from two stools for their kitchen counter to eat on, and a comfortable bed to sleep on. But lately, Hanna had started thinking about inviting their friends over for a housewarming party, and realised that they wouldn't have anywhere for them to eat if she did._

 _Caleb didn't care about their lack of furniture much, but he wanted to make Hanna happy, and so he agreed on buying the table. Due to the fact that his new job didn't start for another two weeks, and because he'd used up all of his savings paying for Hanna's college tuition, they had been a little short on money._

 _Hanna successfully haggled, and eventually bought the table at a bargain price. Next, the table had to be taken home._

 _She hadn't expected to buy a piece of furniture this size – her wardrobe choices weren't exactly suitable for carrying it home. And so, a couple of minutes later, Hanna stood rubbing her sore soles, whining inwardly about her feet hurting, paying her dues for putting on five-inch-heels for a flea market outing. Keeping up appearances, she smiled at Caleb, before continuing to help him haul her precious purchase all the way to the edge of the market._

 _Now, the table stood on the curb, and Hanna had sent Caleb away to rent a car so that they could take their purchase back to their apartment in the East Village._

 _He had been gone for about ten minutes when Hanna had the glorious idea to sit on their table and wait for him, thereby resting her feet a little ready for the dreaded walk to the nearest parking lot._

 _As she hoisted herself up, her hands grabbing onto the table, her wristwatch scraped over the soft wood, leaving a narrow two-inch scratch on the tabletop. Hanna had only seen it at second sight, and hoped that Caleb might not notice it at all._

 _Biding her time by checking emails and answering texts on her phone, Hanna soon became restless in the warm sun, scolding herself for not only wearing totally inappropriate shoes, but also for not bringing something to drink._

 _Thirty minutes later, Caleb finally returned with a minivan, double-parking the car for Hanna's sake despite having a pretty good view of the meter maid. He was in close proximity, and Caleb smiled at him apologetically, deliberately pointing at his girlfriend as an explanation for his daring deed. The guy curiously eyed her from afar, then motioned to Caleb to make it quick by tapping on his watch with his index finger._

" _Han?" Caleb called her name in order to make her aware of his presence._

 _Irritable due to the fact that she'd been waiting for him for so long, she rolled her eyes and jumped off of the table, cringing when her aching feet touched the ground again. "Finally," She exclaimed, visibly on the edge._

" _Babe, do you know how long it took me to get here?" He yelled back at her, trying to drown out the honking caused by his double-parked car, "This city is so busy. On a Sunday... unbelievable!"_

 _Two irritated souls met in a crowded downtown Manhattan street, silently working together to heave a beechwood dining table into their rental car before driving home, careful not to say anything that might stress each other out._

 _Taking a last right turn onto their residential street, Hanna and Caleb's facial features instantly relaxed when they saw that there was a spacious parking spot available right in front of their apartment block._

" _Aw, look Caleb, this is my lucky day. I got us a cheap table and I won't have to carry it for too long," Hanna said excitedly, getting out of the car as soon as it came to a standstill._

 _Seeing that Hanna's spirits had been lifted caused Caleb's own mood to improve considerably. It was sometimes the most trivial things that conjured up a smile on her face, and he loved her for it._

 _Heopened the tailgate and started pulling the table out all by himself before asking Hanna for her help. "Hanna?" He looked at her petite frame clad in stiletto heels, "Uhm, maybe you should run upstairs and change shoes?" He tried, but deep down he knew it was futile._

" _Hey, I've run through the woods in these heels. I can manage a few steps," She retorted._

 _He chuckled at her fierce pride, whilst inwardly looking forward to the comic relief that she was about to provide at her own expense._

 _Together, they hoisted the solid, wooden piece of furniture up, before dropping it onto the curb having been reminded of how heavy it actually was._

 _After locking up the car, they both grabbed an end of the table, and Hanna took the lead. Caleb gave her instructions on how she was supposed to maneuver the table to ensure that, should she stumble on the steps, she wouldn't fall and take both the table and him down with her._

 _They managed to carry their new purchase up the front stairs and into the building. Hanna was first to notice that the sign covering the doors of the elevator read 'out of order'._

" _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." The words came shooting from her mouth, and by the way in which the little vein above her eye had started to twitch, Caleb could tell that her joy about the new table was rapidly dwindling._

 _He quickly grabbed his end of the table, before saying, "Come on, Han. Think of that 'Friends' episode where they hauled a chair up the staircase. It's only three floors."_

 _At that she shot him a deadly look. "Well, first of all, it was a couch, and it fell down the stairs."_

 _Before she could make her second point, Caleb cut in, "Well, that was a sitcom. It was supposed to look funny," He shot back. But when he saw that she was already sweating, his voice softened. He put the table down and said, "Okay. How's this for motivation? I'll give you a nice foot massage once we've made it to our apartment."_

 _A playful grin appeared on Hanna's face. "Back, too?"_

" _Anything you want." He knew he had her._

 _Her face lit up and she grabbed her end of the table, before mocking him, "Well, what are you waiting for?"_

 _Shaking his head, Caleb laughed at how easily she had been persuaded, whilst thinking about touching her naked body; it wasn't just her who would yield an advantage from the massage that he had offered._

 _Fueled with energy at the prospect of soon having his soft hands kneading her sore flesh, Hanna strode through the hall with their table and Caleb in tow._

 _Together, they climbed up the stairs to their apartment on the third floor. Upon reaching the landing of the second floor, there was a sudden thud and a shriek, followed by a scraping noise. Caleb lost hold of his end of the table, which came crashing down, barely missing his feet. In a split-second, Hanna had disappeared from his view, sinking to the floor behind the tabletop, which ended up lying on its side._

 _He quickly walked up the remaining steps, and despite knowing that he was being mean, Caleb instantly burst out laughing at the sight of Hanna whilst trying to piece together the course of events that had led to that moment._

" _Hanna? Are you okay? What happened?" He spoke before laughing once more._

 _Dumbfounded, Hanna didn't even give him an answer._

 _She sat on the floor, semi-erect, clothes strewn all around her and her ass stuck in Mrs. Rahimi's laundry basket, which had been parked on the doorstep of their downstairs neighbor. Hanna hadn't seen it whilst walking across the landing backwards. She had stumbled and fallen right into the basket with her feet propped up in the air… her sharp-edged heels leaving a giant scratch on the surface of their as good-as-new dining table._

 _Horrified and embarrassed after spotting the scratch, Hanna felt like crying. However, before long she had joined Caleb, who was still in fits of laughter, holding his hand out for her. Once she was up on her feet again, Caleb pulled her into his arms. They both stood, laughing, trying hard not to disturb their neighbors but failing miserably._

 _Their laughter echoed around the staircase of their apartment building, and they looked at each other with glistening eyes, taking in the situation._

" _Do you know how long it's been since we've been able to laugh like this?" Caleb asked, not really expecting an answer from her._

 _Their lips met in a lingering kiss, and when it ended, their foreheads came to rest against one another's. They closed their eyes, capturing the moment of utter unencumberedness to keep for eternity._

 _After a long minute, they let go of each other in order to look around and sort things out. As soon as they saw what kind of clothes Mrs. Rahimi had washed and deposited on her doorstep for everyone to see, they laughed out loud again._

 _Suddenly, the door right next to them opened, and their neighbor peeked through the crack, instantly unleashing a rant in a language unfamiliar to both Hanna and Caleb when she saw her underwear and night gowns lying all over the floor. Hanna scrambled to help pick up the clothes, apologizing incessantly even though she wasn't sure if the elder woman understood her._

 _In a matter of seconds, their neighbor had retreated back into her apartment, leaving Hanna and Caleb alone again._

" _I suddenly feel the urgent need to see your underwear to… you know… get those images out of my head," Caleb chuckled, but Hanna was quick to notice a change in his voice; it was now husky, and full of insinuation. His brown eyes had darkened, and suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to get to their apartment and give in to his desires. She swallowed her pride and stripped off her heels, dropping them right where she stood._

 _Together, they quickly picked up the table, grabbing it at either end and hoisting it up the remainder of the steps._

 _When they reached their apartment on the third floor, Caleb unlocked it and tried to push the table through the open door, instantaneously noticing that his plan wasn't going to work because the width of the tabletop was too wide._

 _Thinking hard for a moment, he came up with a new idea – he tilted the table until it was on its side again. Now, they were both able to carry it through the door. Hanna kicked it shut with her naked foot._

 _Sweating, they flipped the table back round and dropped it as soon as they had set foot in their living room. It came to a stand on its legs, sounding a quiet dull thud, which seemed to emanate from underneath the tabletop. Caleb had noticed it once before, but hadn't bothered to look into it._

 _And now certainly wasn't the time to do it either, not with the way in which she was looking at him with those piercingly blue eyes, still breathing heavily._

" _Ha, we did it," She commented excitedly, "Now, where are we gonna put it?"_

 _Hanna turned away from the table and walked the short distance over to their kitchen island in order to get a better view of their apartment. She looked around the freakishly small main room, which was a combined kitchen and living room, wondering where they were going to position their new piece of furniture._

 _Caleb looked at her with a satisfied expression on his face, planning his next move._

 _The way she was standing there, flustered with her hair all messed up… he definitely wouldn't be discussing feng shui or light concepts with her any time soon._

 _Just as she was about to open her mouth to make a suggestion, Caleb moved in close behind her, letting the full length of his body press against hers. Hanna shut her eyes and let out a happy little sigh that turned into a moan when he kissed the nape of her neck._

" _You hungry? Should we have a late lunch now… or-?" Hanna suggested shyly, actually feeling hungry._

 _He chuckled against her shoulder before moving his head further down, his teeth nipping playfully at the upper seam of her bandeau dress, "Maybe later."_

 _She braced her hands on the edge of the counter as his hand slipped under her dress and covered her butt cheek, squeezing it gently._

" _How about you give me that foot massage now?" She quivered under his touch._

 _His head traveled back up until his lips met her earlobes. "Maybe later," He murmured quietly against her ear._

" _Tell me what you want," She said softly, "And it's yours."_

" _You," He admitted, "I'm skipping right to dessert."_

 _"You've already got me," She told him as she stepped backwards, taking him with her. She turned around and kissed him, her mouth moving forcefully against his._

 _They undressed each other between kisses, their clothes dropping to the floor as quickly as was possible. As her dress came falling down, revealing Hanna's strapless bra and matching panties, Caleb paused for a long moment, taking in the sight of her._

 _He'd known her for so long, had seen her in sweatpants, in lacy underwear, clad in nothing but those ridiculously looking edible thongs for his last birthday… yet there was still something about her fantastic body that did things to him that he couldn't even describe, like the tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach during that moment._

 _Never had he been able to imagine that she'd once had to deal with body issues, and he'd sworn to himself that he would never ever make her have self-doubts about her perfect frame again._

 _Hanna felt his gaze on her skin, falling in love with the way he looked at her all over again, even more so when she felt his soft hands on her skin, gently removing the two remaining pieces of clothing from her body. She gave him a smile and took his hand, turning to move towards their adjoining bedroom._

 _He tugged her back. "Wait," He told her, "Let's stay here." He lifted her up, sitting her on the table._

 _Her stomach flipped as she realized his intentions. "Caleb, oh, I…"_

 _"I want to taste you." He kissed her, his hands stroking soothingly along her arms and back as he urged her down onto the surface of the table, and positioned himself between her spread legs. "Besides, we need to test," He continued between open-mouthed kisses, "Its stability… you know, appreciate the… workmanship… see if its height needs to be readjusted."_

 _Just as she was about to laugh at his last words, he began to kiss a slow meandering path down her body, and her mouth suddenly went slack. Hanna flushed and groaned, her hands tracing over his shoulders and through his hair as he moved deliberately closer and closer to his goal. When he reached her navel he knelt down. He grabbed her ass and pulled her closer to the edge of the tabletop, before placing her legs over his shoulders. Hanna began to shake with anticipation._

 _His nose touched her first. "I love this, the scent of you." He traced his finger lightly over her nub, causing her to moan and wiggle her hips._

 _Running his tongue along her folds, he savored her. The taste of her was like nothing he had ever known. Hanna kept her fingers tangled softly in his hair, afraid that she would fly away without something to ground her._

 _Her fingers tightened in his hair when his tongue moved lower and dipped into her, tracing the rim of her core in an unhurried circle. Caleb's lips murmured something against her flesh before he dipped into her again, deeper this time. His tongue flicked inside her and then withdrew._

 _Hanna turned her head sideways on the table, letting the cold tabletop cool her flushed cheek._

 _Caleb kissed along her folds, gently sucking the nub of her sex into his mouth and tapping it with his tongue. Two fingers pushed inside her, moving in and out to the rhythm of his mouth. Hanna arched and cried out, her body stiffening as she came under his ministrations._

 _Caleb groaned at the way in which her inner muscles tried to hold onto his fingers as they slid away. She whimpered with her eyes closed, and he lovingly watched her as she rode out the last waves of her orgasm, her arched body and peaked nipples fueling his own arousal._

 _Then, he thrust into her, both of them groaning at the sensation. As Hanna came back from her high, he was there, inside her, groaning as he began to seek his own pleasure. She slid across the surface of the table when his thrusts increased in intensity._

 _Caleb pulled her back, "Wrap… your legs… hold onto me."_

 _She complied and he took her hips in his hands, driving into her in smooth strokes that sent white flashes of light across her closed eyelids. Hanna reached above her head to hold onto the edge of table, bracing herself as she met his thrusts._

 _Caleb was becoming lost in her, lost in the sensation as he moved forward and retreated within her. This was real, he told himself. This was really happening. They were alone, in their own apartment, no parental supervision anymore._

 _She was here, lying open to him like some erotic dream. Almost the entirety of the past two weeks had felt like an erotic dream to him. He couldn't even walk past their kitchen island without thinking about the amazing things that they had done on it, like eating off of each other. They had really enjoyed their new freedom in New York to the fullest._

 _Did she have any idea of how amazing this felt? Hot, slick, tight – those words didn't even begin to describe it. She was a drug and he was addicted._

 _His thumb slid over her clit and Hanna cried out, her body shuddering in response to the sudden overload._

 _"Too much?" He frowned at her, panting._

 _"Are you kidding?" She gasped, "It's not nearly enough."_

 _Caleb pulled her upright, wrapping his arms around her; they both groaned as the angle of his entry changed. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to reach the point of no return. "Oh my god, I need… fuck, Hanna… I'm so close, I just need…"_

 _He needed what? Hanna felt almost frantic. An orgasm of massive proportions was just out of reach, she could almost taste it and he was asking her for… what?_

 _She heard him groan again, "Oh god, Hanna, I'm gonna…"_

 _Hanna tightened her legs around him and leaned back, supporting her weight on her elbows. Caleb gasped and half-followed her down, bracing his hands on the table as he started a new, harder rhythm. "Is this okay?" He asked._

 _Hanna could hear the squeaking and scraping of the table as their movements caused it to skid across their hardwood floor, but pushed all rational thought to the farthest corner of her mind. "Oh god, yes, that's just right," She managed to mutter under ragged breaths._

 _Actually, it was perfect._

 _She could feel the entire length of him pulsing inside of her. Her head tipped back and she shuddered as pleasure shot straight up from where his body joined to hers. With each thrust, the pleasure deepened, exponentially increasing until there was nothing but the sound of their shuddering cries of ecstasy as she tipped over the edge, too, for the second time._

 _Caleb sank down onto the table with her, his face buried in the crook of her neck as he summoned the will to move away from her. He realized he'd have to, assuming this couldn't be very comfortable for her, lying on the table with him on top of her._

 _But because she still was still holding onto his neck tightly as she slowly came down from her high, there was no way for him to move. And so he stayed in the same position, and brought his hands to her face, stroking her cheeks gently and pressing tiny butterfly kisses to her skin._

 _Finally, her eyes opened and they looked at each other intently. Then, Hanna inhaled deeply before stating matter-of-factly, "Well, I'd say that the table has an excellent price-performance ratio."_

 _He laughed and shifted his weight onto his elbows, before regretfully pushing himself away from her. He held his hand out to help Hanna sit up. The table wobbled as she slid to the edge._

 _Terrified, Hanna hopped off quickly. "I think we might have broken our table."_

 _Caleb smiled and tilted his head to look at it. "You mean, apart from that giant scratch you inflicted?" His finger traced the contours of the misshapen streak, almost admiring her work. "I think the table is fine. But… how in the world did you manage to hit exactly the middle, on both halves of the tabletop?"_

" _Explaining that to you would be a waste of time," She said, grinning._

 _Caleb bent down and continued to inspect the piece of furniture. It wasn't long before he hit the jackpot. He let out a groan before he started to chuckle, "Did you know there were two extra boards in here that you can use to extend the tabletop?"_

" _Yeah, sure," She shrugged, "I noticed that while I was waiting for you to rent the car."_

" _Um. And you didn't think to tell me?" He looked at her incredulously, "That information could have saved us some troubles."_

" _And what would have been the fun in doing that?" Hanna closed in on him, clasping her arms behind his neck, pulling him in for a smoldering kiss._

 _He groaned with despair as she let go of him and picked up her dress, but Caleb soon took it from her. "Putting this on would be a waste of time." He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought their mouths together again._

 _But Hanna pulled back before he could slip his tongue between her lips. "Caleb, I'm hungry and I have to eat. I wanna order something in and I can't be naked when they get here!" She exclaimed before coming to a new conclusion, "I don't think I can ever eat at that table again."_

 _He laughed, "I'll wipe it with bleach. But you're right. We should eat something now; you'll need your strength."_

 _"Oh? Why?" Her stomach fluttered at the thought of them not being done yet. She picked up his shirt and slipped it on. This time, he let her._

 _"Because, after we're done eating, I think I might be hungry again." There was that husky voice of his again._

 _"You can't do it right after eating!" She reasoned with him._

 _"That's swimming, Han," Caleb said with a grin as he put his underwear back on. Then he moved closer to her again._

 _"Oh, right." Hanna blushed, her hand shaking slightly as she started to button up his short-sleeved shirt. "Well, we're not doing any household chores right now. What if we eat in bed?" She suggested as his fingers brushed hers aside and he began to button the shirt for her._

 _He grinned, "That was next on my list." He left the top two buttons undone, and brought his face closer to her neck, trailing feather-light kisses behind her ear and then further down across her cleavage._

 _She gently nudged his head away, "I meant we could actually eat there."_

 _His eyes sparkled and his grin widened. Hanna blushed, pushing him back a step. "Late lunch or early dinner, Caleb," She looked at his mischievous grin, "You have a filthy mind."_

" _Huh? Me?" He played innocent, but then decided to shift the mood. "So, where else do you think we could eat?" He spoke whilst drawing mid-air quotation marks with his fingers._

 _Hanna looked at him questioningly, not getting his point._

" _I meant where else have you considered having sex?" Caleb looked around their apartment thoughtfully, pointing to various objects that were visible from his vantage point. "We've done it on our couch. That chair. The kitchen counter."_

 _She took her time to think about his question, enjoying the freedom of being able to live out her innermost fantasies if she only so much as told him about them. "Hhmm, let me see. The barstools here? Or up against the fridge? Or in the shower? I_ ** _know_** _we haven't done it in the shower," She said, pausing mid-way through browsing one of their take-out menus as she imagined Caleb wet and naked and her mind started to drift off._

 _"And we_ ** _have_** _done it against a refrigerator?" Caleb chuckled before taking the menu from her, ripping her from her short daydream. He let his finger glide over the lines of text whilst trying to decide on an order._

 _"Well, no. But I meant the shower here… in our new apartment." She blushed at the thought of their very first shower experiment, the weekend that Hanna's mom had allowed her to spend two entire days and nights at Caleb's own apartment in Rosewood for the very first time. "Although, come to think of it… with the hot water supply in this old building, it just sounds like a recipe for disaster."_

" _How's that?" He asked, curiously._

" _We'd have the added pressure of finishing before the water went cold," Hanna replied dryly._

" _I don't mind pressure," Caleb said suggestively._

" _No, never mind. We seem to have a kitchen theme going, I say we stick with that."_

 _"So, which is it? Fridge or stool?" He enquired eagerly._

 _"I don't know. The fridge might be too cold," She concluded after actually considering it for a second._

 _"Barstool it is," He quickly assessed their situation before letting the menu drop from his hand, and shoving the magazines on both of the stools onto the floor. Then he picked her up, sitting her firmly on one of the stools by their kitchen island._

 _"Now?" She sputtered with an almost exasperated look on her face, "But I haven't eaten yet!"_

 _"I'll feed you," He picked up a handful of MMs, which were sitting in a bowl on the kitchen counter, and held one out, pinched between his fingers for her to eat._

 _Hanna laughed, "You'll feed me? Will you make airplane sounds, too?"_

 _"If that turns you on, sure."_

 _She looked at him, taking in the defined lines of his body and appreciating the fact that he was only wearing a pair of boxers. Then, she leaned forward and closed her mouth over his fingers, letting out a small hum of pleasure at the feeling of finally being able to eat. Talk about a dirty mind, she chided herself, as she deliberately pulled her mouth away slowly. The look on his face assured her that he hadn't missed her suggestive nature._

 _They took turns feeding each other the sweet treats, teasing and kissing as they placed the little beads of chocolate in each other's mouths._

 _Eight MMs later, they were only kissing and tasting each other, their food order long forgotten._

 _Hanna closed her legs around his hips as her hands caressed his chest and back. Meanwhile, Caleb had unbuttoned the shirt that she was wearing, and had started to nuzzle her breasts. He took her nipple into his mouth and sucked, gently at first, and then with a little more urgency. She threaded her fingers through his dark hair to hold him there._

 _Caleb's fingers slipped between her legs, finding her swollen and wet. Hanna gasped and leaned back, which produced a clanking noise when her back bumped against a bottle of olive oil that had been standing on the kitchen island._

 _"Stay right there," He whispered before removing the rest of the items from the counter. On his way back to her, he stripped off his boxers._

 _Hanna licked her lips in anticipation as he moved between her legs, taking her hips in his hands and urging her forward. Hanna hooked her legs around him as he pushed into her, his forehead dropping to rest on her shoulder as he shuddered._

 _"How's that?" He asked, his voice raspy, "Feeling comfortable?"_

 _"No," Her voice was equally throaty as he rocked in and out of her smoothly, "But go on."_

 _A moment later, her mouth opened again, "Wait," She said, "I have a different idea." She pushed him back gently so that he withdrew, and then again so that he stepped back. She hopped down and turned around, looking back over her shoulder at him. "We haven't tried this either."_

 _Caleb was certain that there was nothing she could ever do that would surprise him again. He stepped closer, before putting his hand on her cheek and turning her head sideways so that he could kiss her, his mouth slanting over hers again and again._

 _She broke the kiss and leaned forward, bracing herself with her lower arms resting on the surface of the stool, and her hands grabbing onto the edge of it. "Go on," She whispered._

 _Caleb shuddered at the dark promise of pleasure in her voice._

 _Hanna gulped and looked at the pattern on the countertop as if it were the most fascinating thing she had ever seen; then his knee came between her legs, urging them further apart. He dipped his fingers between her thighs, stroking her and then finding her entrance. She went onto her tiptoes, her nerves making her quiver. Caleb pushed into her in one long, slow stroke. Then he paused, letting both of them adjust to the new sensation._

 _"Baby," He breathed, biting his lip as her inner muscles tightened around him. He held her hips and pulled back, then swiftly pushed in again, all the way to the hilt._

 _Hanna bucked and groaned, lifting her arms one after the other as Caleb pushed the unbuttoned shirt from her shoulders. He looked down at where his body disappeared into hers. He was increasingly grateful that they had done this once earlier, so that he was sated enough to really make this time last. Low, sob-like groans had begun to rise from Hanna as she writhed beneath his quickening thrusts._

 _He adjusted his pace so that he was driving into her more slowly, with a little extra push at the end of each thrust._

 _Hanna's body had begun to tremble as a result of his deliberate strokes. Caleb kissed and nipped at her shoulders and the nape of her neck, his breath hot against her skin. She arched her back, letting out a tight wail. Her hands clawed at the hard surface of the barstool as she tried to buck back against him with more force. "Caleb, oh god, don't stop, don't stop… don't stop!" She trembled and shuddered, racing with ever-increasing speed towards the dark void just ahead of her._

 _The primal tone of her voice set loose an equal reaction within him. Caleb let go of her hips and wrapped one arm around her waist, steadying himself with the other by clutching the edge of the kitchen island. He thrust into her, pushing past the resistance of her contracting muscles._

 _She wailed and tossed her head as she spasmed around him, her limbs and inner muscles twitching until he had no choice but to follow her into oblivion. He cried out her name as his own climax peaked, emptying himself within her._

 _He lowered her down to the barstool again and draped his body over hers. "Fuck, that was good," He moaned, still gently thrusting against her, purely as a reflex._

 _When Hanna's brain began to function again she chuckled, shivering as she felt him smile against her skin. "Caleb?_ _Promise me something_ _," She said to him before she opened her eyes and watched her breath condense on the cool surface of the countertop._

 _"What?" He mumbled against the slick skin of her back. Noticing that he was still inside of her, he slowly withdrew before tugging at her hips in order to make her turn to face him. Then, he pulled her closer, sharing his body warmth with her trembling frame._

 _Their eyes met, and Hanna told him, "_ _Never stop looking at me the way you did before_

" _Before what?" He furrowed his brow, wondering what she was getting at._

" _Before… when you were undressing me," She explained. "I know that I sometimes act crazy or unreasonable," She stopped speaking as she scanned his eyes, trying to detect any signs of disapproval, knowing fairly well that he'd say so if he had any._

 _He remained silent, waiting for her to continue._

 _She chuckled at her own insecurity. "I still feel smitten whenever you look me in the eyes, it's as if you're reading my mind. Because you're the only person in the world who can. And, at least for now, I feel so much safer knowing that I have someone who's looking out for me, even if I'm not always asking for help."_

 _Looking stricken, Caleb thought about her words for a while, pondering his response. It still made him swallow a perceivable lump in his throat when he saw Hanna's eyes drift off mid-conversation, her gaze suddenly turning stern and teary-eyed as her mind flashed back to whatever had happened to her in the dollhouse._

 _The experience had caused a significant change in her personality. He had learned that sometimes, Hanna felt at a loss for words during or after one of her flashbacks._

 _At the same time, he had perfected reading her eyes. It was all in there, every emotion, every unspoken word that she was to terrified to utter for fear of refreshing those memories._

 _And just like her, he often didn't know how to deal with her feelings, relying on the only way he'd learned; by showing her that he loved her for who she was, expressing his love for her not only with his words, but also with his own eyes._

 _He had no idea how this moment had turned from post-coital bliss to a slightly sad absentmindedness on her part. Something must have triggered her memory. But he knew better than to push her by questioning her sanity. All he could do was be there for her._

 _Caleb raised his arm and let it comb through her hair, knowing that it would soothe her. "I love you," He declared, before pulling back to look at her, "So much… so much."_

 _Hanna responded by kissing him passionately. They stood wrapped in each other's arms for a while before Caleb pushed himself free. "Why don't I go grab us a pizza from Gino's down the street, and you can take a shower?" Collecting his clothes from the floor, he added, "Maybe later we can clean the table together and christen it properly?"_

" _Oh, it's been christened I think. Good workmanship, perfect height… maybe the extension mechanism needs to be lubricated, but other than that it has really lived up to my expectations."_

" _Wow, now, who has a filthy mind, huh? I meant that we should have dinner at the table with nice place settings and maybe some candles," He laughed, before he quickly put his clothes back on and turned to grab his wallet and keys._

 _With a single stride, Hanna crossed the distance between them and held him back by his arm. "I love you, too," She brushed her lips against his mouth, "Pepperoni! With extra cheese! And make it quick, I'm starving!"_

 _At that, she whizzed past him and headed for the bathroom, leaving behind a bewildered looking Caleb._

 _And just like that she was back to being her old self again._

 _Later that day, Hanna and Caleb sat at their freshly cleaned table, sharing a large peperoni pizza with extra cheese over a glass of red wine that Caleb had acquired from their next door neighbor. Whilst he was out getting the pizza, Caleb had managed to find an open flower store, and now there was a vase with an assortment of colorful flowers sitting in the middle of the table, covering the scratch perfectly._

 _Over the course of the following months, the dining table became their stomping ground for countless late night talks about everything; Hanna wanted to let Caleb in on her traumatic experiences in the dollhouse. It became like her own private therapy room, a ritual, often induced by sharing a pizza and wine. The more she opened herself up to Caleb, the less sad Hanna felt in the wake of her anxiety issues._

 _But their table wasn't just a venue for serious conversations._

 _Sometimes they would play board games with the friends they'd made in the neighborhood, or alone._

 _Other times, it would become the perfect place for them to have passionate sex whenever they felt an urgent need for an instant release._

 _Often, they both enjoyed sitting at the table and eating whatever they had concocted after taking the time to cook together at least once a week._

 _The table would always be a symbol of the happiest period in their relationship, the time during which they were living a carefree life at long last, free from A., free from the watchful eyes of Hanna's mom. Just the two of them._

 **XXXXX Present time XXXXX  
**

Hanna was the first to come back from their reverie. "I'm gonna call Lucas first thing tomorrow morning when he returns from his business trip to Seoul. But I don't think he would mind if we changed some things around here."

"Can't wait to have our table back," Caleb grinned at her, "We need to-" He stopped speaking when another thought crossed his mind. "Did you and Jordan…?" He couldn't bring himself to complete his question as he glanced at Hanna, anxious to hear her answer.

"God, no!" She replied, remembering how her ex-fiancé had never really liked there being any wooden furniture in his stylish apartment; their furnishings were made of glass or metal only.

Relieved, Caleb reached for her arms and pulled her closer, so that she was laying on top of him. "So, now that we're up… do you have any plans for today?" He enquired playfully.

Hanna grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. Then, she bent down to kiss him, sending a silent message, which he seemed to pick up on quickly.

"We could try out that spiral staircase… or now that Emily's moved out, maybe the guest room?" He suggested. Thinking that he was just teasing, Hanna laughed at his suggestions, not missing the way in which his voice had started to become hoarse. The sexy undertone increased significantly when he continued speaking, "Or how about that fridge? You up for it now?" Again, her laughter filled the room, and it encouraged Caleb to make a final suggestion, "The window seat? If you'd rather-"

He didn't get any further, as Hanna cut him off by giving him a peck on the lips. She brought her face closer to his ear, murmuring, "Caleb? Just shut up!"

Her tongue rolled out and licked the outer shell of his ear. When just the tip of her tongue dipped into his ear canal, he was overwhelmed by a lustful need to penetrate her, for his body to be joined with hers, to merge himself with her as if they were two halves becoming whole.

Right here, right now. No stability tests. No experiments.

God, he wanted her. His pelvis thrust upward against hers, and his ever-hardening erection ached to be free of his confining underwear, to be free to slide deeply inside of her. It was a primal urge; he was desperate to claim her as his, to possess her.

This moment felt like their destiny.

Caleb flipped Hanna onto her back, and she giggled as he hovered over her. His eyes traveled over the length of her body, and his erection ached painfully with need. Caleb bent down and brushed his lips against hers, and his eyelids fluttered shut as Hanna wound her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.

She moaned against his lips and Caleb thrust his tongue forward, demanding entrance to her mouth. He worked his way past her lips and she swirled her tongue against his; her taste set off an erotic buzz in his brain – he couldn't have strung together a series of rational thoughts even if he'd tried.

Caleb broke the kiss, and turned his head to press lighter kisses along the expanse of her neck. Hanna closed her eyes and threw her head back, moaning in approval.

She quivered as he dragged his wet tongue down her skin, following the contour of her neck and tracing the hard ridge of her collarbone. Her hands squeezed at his hair as she pulled him towards her, silently asking him to continue.

Caleb kissed his way down her sternum until his face was level with her breasts. He bent his left arm on top of the mattress and shifted his body weight, freeing his right hand so that it could explore her body. He slowly stroked his hand over her skin, brushing his palm lightly over her left nipple.

Hanna purred, then arched her back, demanding a firmer touch. Caleb closed his hand over her left breast, amazed by the effect that he seemed to have on her body. He massaged her breast a few times, and grinned at the lazy smile that appeared on her face. Then, he brought his thumb and forefinger together and rolled her nipple between them. Hanna gasped – it was a sound that had implanted itself in his brain long ago, and he'd never forgotten it.

Caleb bent his head down and licked Hanna' right nipple, lapping at it rapidly and feeling it stiffen. He pinched her left nipple between the fingertips of his right hand, then he closed his lips around her right breast and sucked hard.

"Oh, God!" She wailed, which just made him do it again – harder. Her wail turned into a high-pitched, wordless scream, that was bound to have been heard by their neighbors. Caleb's body reacted viscerally to that thought; a tiny part of him wanted the world to know what he was doing to her, what she was doing to him. He wanted everyone to know that he and Hanna belonged together.

Caleb released her breasts and began kissing his way down her torso. His right hand swept over her midriff, touching the flat plane of her stomach. Hanna's fingers massaged his scalp, and he moaned softly before kissing her skin. His right hand wandered south, stroking over her hip bone, and then moving inward to brush against her.

Out of breath, Hanna shivered and bucked beneath his ministrations. As soon as her lungs had filled with air again, she vigorously raised her upper body and pushed Caleb down until he was lying flat on his back.

In that moment, she didn't need any variations. She just needed him.

She straddled him and placed her hands on his chest, before rocking forward and placing the tip of his penis at her entrance. Then she smiled wickedly, and slid herself down onto him.

Caleb sucked in a breath, before uttering a strangled, "Fuck, Hanna!" His hands flew to her waist, holding her still. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensation of being buried deep inside of her. Indescribable bliss – surely, there no feeling in the world more perfect than this.

And then, she rocked her hips back and forth one more time, sliding his penis in and out of her. His body lay beneath her, a willing captive to her every whim. She tortured him, knowing that her slow pace was driving him insane. He squeezed his eyes shut to savor the sensation. His hands held her tightly as his body began to crave a faster pace.

But Hanna shifted her body weight forward, breaking the rhythm. He felt her breath on his face and he opened his eyes. She smiled, then dangled her right breast an inch away from his mouth. He moved his hands, capturing her breast and bringing it to his mouth, his teeth scraping her nipple as she arched her back and moaned softly. She shook her chest away from him; Caleb captured her left breast instead, sucking it into his mouth. Hanna squealed, then pushed herself away, rolling off of him and onto her back.

He swiftly covered her; she wrapped her legs around his hips as he thrust himself into her. "Yes…" She moaned before repeating the word several times, whenever he filled her to the hilt.

Caleb let the erotic sound echo through his ears, through his body, and down to his groin. He pulled out, then thrust into her hard, and she gasped in delight as her hands clutched his arms and dug into his skin. Vaguely aware of his own impending orgasm, he knew that he needed to fight the urge to let go; he controlled his body, sliding in and out of her at a steady pace, using her reactions as clues to guide him towards their releases. Eventually, he found the right pressure, the right timing, the perfect rhythm. His mind swam with desire, and he held his own release back for as long as possible, wanting to draw the moment out for as long as he could.

But then he felt her hips buck, and she wailed, "Caleb!" And that was it – he climaxed, and he instantly knew that nothing could be more perfect than coming at the same time as her.

He collapsed onto her body, pressing his chest against hers, wanting to feel the beating of her heart against his. Hanna slid her arms around his back, holding him against her. "Hanna," He whispered into her neck.

She hugged him more tightly. "I know," She whispered back.

"I know you know," Caleb kissed her cheek, "I'm going to say it anyway."

He felt her smile. "Okay," She replied.

Caleb propped himself up on one elbow so that he could look into her eyes. "I love you."

She nodded, and then said, "I love you, too."

Caleb bent his head down and kissed her on the lips, giving her a physical representation of his words; soft kisses, undemanding and without any urgency, as if they had all the time in the world.

But then, his lips left hers to place a gentle kiss upon her chest, where he still felt her heart hammering wildly against her ribcage. There, he rested his head, and took a moment to recover from their exertions.

With his head lying on the valley between her breasts, Hanna let her hands comb through his disheveled hair.

This was it. This was her comfortable place. Before long, she was drifting off to sleep, taking Caleb with her. She was blissfully saturated, with him.

 _to be continued…_

* * *

 _Hi guys! First of all, I want to thank all of you for sticking with me and this story, even though it has become so much longer than I had planned originally! Now we're closing in on the end. Only two more chapters!_

 _Secondly, I want to thank Jen (hannnarivers) for the beta work! If you haven't checked out any of her stories, you definitely should! They're awesome!_

 _Lastly, a huge shoutout to my girls Jane, Kat, Katey, Marion and Sam! Thanks for the support and the ongoing inspiration._

 _I would love to read what you think. Chapter 13 is already in the works. I'll swap... review for a preview! ;-) Zip_


	13. Chapter 13 - MONDAY around noon

**Chapter 13 – MONDAY around noon**

"So, how's it going between you and Caleb? Is it starting to feel like old times?" Spencer asked, making one last attempt to start a conversation that lasted longer than the 'uh-huh's that Hanna had been responding with throughout the last twenty minutes of their car journey. She stepped into the barn, before turning around with a curious look on her face as she waited for Hanna's answer.

But instead of answering, Hanna simply carried Spencer's hospital bag inside, and put it on the table for easier access before opening the zipper. "Um, can I leave you here alone… like this?" She asked nervously before hurriedly looking at her watch; she was anxious about making it to her appointment with Lucas on time, now that she finally had something to show for. She had picked up Spencer from the hospital and taken her home with a supply of groceries and painkillers, an air of guilty conscience breathing down her neck the whole time.

Spencer glanced around the barn, as if she was able to check with a simple turn whether or not there were any more dangers lurking in the shadows. Then she spoke, "Yeah, sure. If you have to go places, I'll be fine on my own for a while. Aria is gonna come by later."

"I'm sorry, Spence," Hanna looked at her friend apologetically, "Lucas brought back some clients from his business trip to South Korea, and the only time they said they could meet with me is in half an hour."

"That's great, Hanna. I hope that it's all working out the way you want it to," Spencer raised her free arm – the other was constricted by a sling – and rubbed her hand over Hanna's arm to show her support. "Don't worry about me. I can manage. Okay?"

When she saw the confident look on her friend's face, Hanna let it go and turned around to leave. Upon reaching the front door, she stopped dead in her tracks, and wondered if what had been on her mind ever since she had heard Spencer's question about her relationship with Caleb was appropriate to talk about at that moment.

The doorknob already in her hand, Hanna shifted, still not facing Spencer. Exhaling sharply, she said, "Caleb and I are living together. He moved in with me. Just thought I'd tell you before you found out from somebody else."

Spencer, taken aback, scoffed before regaining her composure. "Um, what? Since when?" She tried to sound interested and not alarmed, but the slight squeak in her voice betrayed her true feelings about her friend's quick change in relationship status. She had only been in the hospital for six days. What else had changed in the time since she had been shot?

Suddenly, Hanna's appointment with Lucas and the Koreans seemed less important; she turned around and stepped back from the door, before giving it a push. When she heard it slam shut, she swallowed, and ordered her mind to think straight again. "Since Thursday."

After hearing that it had already happened the week before, Spencer gulped and remained silent, digesting the new information. "Thursday, huh? Well that was quick. Did your mom throw him out of the hotel?" Her voice sounded sharp despite the fact that she was trying not to show her upset; she couldn't deny that this information had hurt her feelings, especially after Caleb hadn't wasted any time before getting back together with Hanna again. Even though she had been the one asking about their relationship, the fast pace that her friends were progressing at took her by surprise, and suddenly she wasn't sure whether she wanted to know any more about it.

"No," Hanna said, before changing her train of thought; suddenly she wanted to tell her friend everything. Her heart was full of emotions, and she desperately needed someone to talk to. "Yes. But it's not what you think. Spence, he sort of proposed to me the day we got back together."

Spencer threw her an astonished look. Before long, Hanna was in full swing, explaining to her the latest developments in her relationship with Caleb. "I don't know what it meant or if it meant anything at all, but he told me he loved me, and I told him that I loved him too, and now we're living together, and he's a completely different person than he was when we were last living together in New York. He supports me and… and… and he brought me flowers… and there was a card that almost tore me up and… he is just so so considerate. I mean... every day, we have the most amazing s-"

"Okay, okay, stop it. TMI, Hanna. At least, for now. Alright? I get it."

Blushing, Hanna stopped talking.

Not wanting to hear about her ex boyfriend's sex life with her best friend, Spencer had cut in before things got too intimate. She wasn't _quite_ ready to talk about that, yet.

But hearing Hanna's bubbly monologue, and seeing the dimples on her delighted face, a switch flipped in Spencer's mind. Despite everything that had been going on in her own life, there was something about seeing her friend this happy that ultimately conjured up a tentative smile on her face. After all, Hanna wasn't to blame for any of the things that had happened between herself and Caleb.

"I'm starting to think that this is all just a dream, part of which feels like a nightmare, but this other part, I don't ever wanna wake up from it Spence," Hanna spoke with glistening eyes.

"Well, he never did any of that for me, so he must really mean it," Spencer's voice took on a serious undertone, "Look Hanna, just because I can admit the fact that I'm happy for you, doesn't mean that I like talking about everything that's been going on between the two of you."

Hanna looked down to the floor guiltily, "I'm sorry. I didn't wanna intimidate you."

"No, don't be. I said I'm happy for you… both of you… and I mean it. Just give me some time, ok? I have a lot on my mind right now, and I have to look into some things. Plus, Detective Fury called me in for questioning tomorrow… another thing I don't really feel like dealing with at the moment."

"You like him, don't you?" Hanna grinned at her, but Spencer just blushed slightly and turned away.

She didn't have to say anything. She'd known her friend long enough – Hanna already had her answer. "Give me a call if you need anything, okay? I really have to get going now. Koreans are always on time, aren't they?" She said more to herself than to Spencer as she anxiously unlocked her phone to check the time, before opening the door and stepping outside.

"See you around," Spencer smiled as she grabbed the doorknob and shut the door, locking it up from the inside before she went to unpack her hospital bag.

 **XXXXX**

At some point during the evening, Hanna returned home. After another meeting with Lucas, she had driven all the way to Philadelphia to run some errands. Now she felt completely drained.

As much as she was grateful for the opportunity that Lucas was giving her, she was starting to feel overwhelmed by the paperwork, the business meetings, and all the boring talk about finances. She had always preferred sitting at her desk, coming up with great ideas, and eventually putting them down on paper. She enjoyed acting like a designer more than she enjoyed acting like a businesswoman – one who would be doing her own taxes at some point during the next year, at that.

Well, maybe she could persuade Lucas to do her taxes for her.

She opened the door of her apartment, her arms laden with papers and fabrics, and kicked it shut with her foot.

Caleb had heard her, and strode out of the bedroom smiling, "Good, you're finally home." He crossed the living room to press a light kiss to her mouth, "Hi Babe." He wanted to take her into his arms, but seeing that that would be impossible due to the mass of papers in her arms, he instead decided to offer some help, "Do you need any help with those?"

Not answering his question, Hanna turned to the couch, dropped her load there, and fell right onto the soft cushions next to the messy heap. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thereby revealing her discontent with the way that her afternoon had been going.

"Bad day?" Came his soothing voice from right in front of her face. He was now sitting on the table in front of the couch, and was leaning in close in an attempt to cheer her up.

Hanna opened her eyes again and looked straight at his concerned face, those warm hazelnut orbs that she could lose herself in forever.

"I don't know why I ever agreed to go into business with Lucas. Sometimes he can be so… so…" She sighed without finishing the sentence. After a small pause, she continued to explain what had unnerved her, "He agreed that I could design an entire-" She stopped and sighed again, "You know what? I don't wanna get into that now."

At that, he smiled at her reassuringly, "But if you do wanna talk about it, let me know. Okay?"

Settling back onto the couch, Hanna propped up her feet on it.

Caleb shifted and reached for her high-heeled boots, removing them from her feet before she placed one leg in his lap. He gently rubbed her foot, and instantly saw Hanna calm down under his touch, her facial features beginning to relax.

"Thanks," Came her quiet response. Suddenly, she noticed something different about their apartment. "Hmm, what's that smell?"

Dropping her foot, Caleb instantaneously rose, crying out, "Oh fuck. No!" Whilst running over to their small kitchen space. He stopped in front of their stove, and started stirring two pots at the same time.

"Wait! You're cooking for me?" Hanna had turned around in her spot in her couch, looking to see what had startled him in the first place, "You're so sweet. I hope it didn't burn."

"No, thankfully it didn't," He replied, rolling his eyes in response to her calling him sweet. Caleb then busied himself in the kitchen, adding seasoning to the scampi that he had been roasting in a large pan.

From her vantage point, Hanna couldn't see what he was doing; for a moment, she thought about giving in to her curiosity and walking over to him, but then changed her mind. She took off her second boot and rubbed the sole of her foot herself, grimacing. "Are we having fish? It smells fishy in here. What are we having?" She yelled to Caleb.

"Dinner," He answered with a devilish grin on his lips.

Slowly turning around, Hanna shot him a deadly stare.

"Can't a man surprise his girlfriend with a nice dinner without being given the third degree?" He sighed in mock despair.

"What? I only asked like two questions," She answered back, innocently.

"I'll tell you in a minute. Do you wanna change into something more comfortable?" Caleb spoke whilst continuing to prepare his dish.

"You want me to change into my sweatpants? Way to kill the romance between us," Hanna laughed as she got up from the couch.

"Han, just wear whatever you feel comfortable in, okay? Tonight, I just want you to relax. I've cooked dinner for us, and after that it's totally up to you. We could watch a movie or-"

"Do I get to choose?" Hanna interrupted him.

"You get to choose," Caleb confirmed.

"But what if I choose a chick flick?" she enquired playfully.

"Then we'll watch a chick flick," He replied whilst straining the boiled pasta over the sink.

Concentrating on his task, he didn't notice Hanna quietly moving barefoot from the couch to where he was standing. As she wrapped her arms around his waist, she laid her head against his back. "Thank you, Caleb," She murmured into his shirt.

"Don't thank me yet. You haven't tasted my white wine sauce. I think I may have accidentally added too much wine."

Hanna kissed the nape of his neck and removed her arms from his waist. Walking away from the kitchen unit, she turned her head back around and grinned wickedly at him, "Too much wine? Bring it on."

At that, she continued on her way to their bedroom to change her clothes.

 **XXXXX**

After dinner, Caleb had sent Hanna to the couch to choose a movie on Netflix while he busied himself cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.

Hanna sat on the couch, browsing through the titles. She considered picking a Disney film for a second, just to see how far he was willing to let her take the game, before deciding on a movie she had heard a lot about but hadn't seen yet. She watched Caleb from afar as he naturally moved through their kitchen, cleaning dishes, and every so often looking over his shoulder to dart a glance at her with a subtle smile on his lips.

She wondered what she had done to deserve to feel this loved again. Her head felt dizzy, and she couldn't tell whether she was experiencing a light buzz from the white wine sauce and the accompanying, now empty, bottle of Chardonnay, or if it was coming from the anticipation of having him close by her side again in a matter of minutes.

When he was done in the kitchen, Caleb shut the drapes and turned on the electric fireplace. Hanna eyed him suspiciously, wondering why he was going through all this effort for a movie night on the couch.

"So, did you pick a movie?" He asked from across the room, checking the cabinets for drinks and snacks.

"Actually, I did," Hanna told him as she made herself comfortable on the couch. "Hey, could you fix me something to drink?"

"Sure. What do you want? Red wine? We have that Merlot that my mom brought for you on her last visit," Caleb explained, "Then there's this vodka, but I have no idea how long it's been here."

"Doesn't matter, it never goes bad. Ugh, wait I'll just fix myself something," Hanna said, remembering that Caleb had never really cared for anything other than beer. It had only been a short time since he had started drinking wine at formal events. She got up and walked over to the kitchen. After ransacking the refrigerator for stuff to use for a cocktail, she ended up with a decent mix of vodka and juice in her glass.

Caleb watched her as he pulled the cork from the half-empty wine bottle in order to pour himself a glass of Merlot, inwardly wondering about whether she would be able to stay awake for very long, considering her vodka-juice-ratio. He chuckled silently, but didn't say anything about it to her. Sometimes, it was a thin line between being observant and being overprotective, and he didn't want to overstep his boundaries. At least, not tonight. Having had an exertive day of work himself, preparing a long overdue security update at the Radley Hotel, Caleb longed for a nice, cuddly evening of Netflix – they could maybe add a little _Chill_ later, depending on Hanna's mood. It had been forever since they had last watched a movie together; they always used to enjoy their movie nights with drinks and snacks at hand. He remembered that they sometimes fell asleep on the couch together after especially boring movies.

After they had both settled back onto the large couch cushions, Hanna started the movie. She nestled into Caleb's side, her drink in one hand so that she could take a sip every so often.

About an hour into _The Revenant_ , Hanna had emptied her first glass, and decided to get up to fix herself a second drink.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Caleb couldn't help but ask, "At least cut down on the amount of vodka."

She shot him a look from the kitchen, causing him to furrow his brow and look back at the screen. Sometimes he knew better than to push her when monitoring her well-being.

Seeing his reaction, Hanna soothingly said, "I know what I'm doing, okay? You want one? They're really good."

He shook his head saying, "No, thanks. I think I'm gonna stick with wine. I wanna stay awake to see the end of the movie. And you should, too. It's supposed to be gripping."

Hanna didn't look convinced. She had picked the movie because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it, but she hadn't expected him to look… like… that. The alcohol in her system wasn't helping to find the movie or Leo more thrilling.

After she had returned to her spot and snuggled into him again, she started to get more and more bored by the minute. Giving her hands something to do, she dipped them both beneath the hem of Caleb's t-shirt, and fondled his chest with one hand and his back with the other.

Moving even closer to him whilst letting her hands explore his skin, Hanna brushed a light kiss against his neck; Caleb's low moan led Hanna to believe that he enjoyed the treatment. But much to her dismay, he didn't even think about turning the movie off. He did, however, shift in his seat as he started stroking her arms without looking away from the TV.

Noticing that he was still engrossed by the action on screen, Hanna racked her mind and tried a different approach. "Do you think that's Leo's real beard?" She asked with austerity, "Did they have disposable razors at the time this film is set in?"

 _Bingo_.

Caleb turned his head around to look at her, clearly doubting her sanity. Or soberness.

Her face was in close proximity, so he pulled back a little to see her blue eyes, finding them somewhat glazed. God, to him, she was just as intoxicating as the wine.

After she had taken her glass into her hand again, she was looking at him intently, her full lips wrapped around the lime-green straw as she took another sip from her cocktail.

"Hanna? Are you feeling okay?"

"That shirt looks good on you," She gave him a sultry smile as her eyes swept over his olive-green t-shirt and down to his grey jeans, "It matches your eyes."

"My eyes are brown," He said, his face flushing as he fought every impulse in his body – they were all telling him to lean over and kiss her.

She leaned in for a closer look, "You're right," She paused, a concerned look on her face, "Were they always brown?"

He laughed at her and took a sip of her drink. Cringing, he stifled a cough, "What flavor is this supposed to be?"

"Mango, I think," She giggled a little, "Or maybe passion fruit," She thought for a moment, "Yeah, it's passion fruit. My first one was mango. Or maybe it was peach."

Noticing that her voice was starting to slur a little, Caleb plucked the frothy drink from her hand. "And I think that's the end of Happy Hour for you, Ms. Marin."

"Hey!" Came her instant protest. She watched him move to the sink and empty the glass there, "I wanted to finish that." But then a new thought crossed her mind; he may have thought that she was drunk, but she still felt sober enough to take her game to a new level. Meanwhile, their movie continued to play in the background.

Sporting a devilish grin, Hanna waited for Caleb to be seated again, only to snatch the remote control from next to him. She put her index finger on the off button and shot him an expectant look. She was hoping he'd see in her eyes that to her, movie night was officially coming to an end, and there were other… better things to do.

But Caleb didn't get that message. Instead, alarmed by the sudden commotion, he finally peeled his eyes away from the screen, and saw Hanna's finger hovering over the off button. "Wait, that's the off button. You might wanna use the pause button instead."

He tried reaching for it, but Hanna deliberately held it up over her head. Still not getting the notion, he brought his arm up to seize the remote control, "Are you serious? Do you want me to pause the movie and look it up for you? This razor thing?"

Almost despairing of his interest in watching Leonardo grow a beard, Hanna winked at him before suddenly jumping off of the couch. Mid-movement, she stopped dead and laughed at him, yelling, "Oh, you want this back? Come and get it!"

Finally, his mind caught up with her intentions, and he grinned back at her with gleaming eyes. "Oh, you wanna play it that way? Do I have to give you a head start?"

Hanna stepped back and awaited his next move. She had him right where she wanted him.

She forgot about the movie.

She forgot about Leonardo.

She forgot about the cocktail that had gone to waste.

She knew exactly what she wanted him to do to make her relax, like no-one and nothing else ever could.

Lost in thought, she almost missed it when he got up and started running after her. When he barely touched her with his fingertips, she shrieked and continued to dash around the couch with the remote control clutched in her hand.

Caleb followed her around the couch, deliberately pretending that he couldn't catch up with her. Though he was wondering whether he should have taken the glass away from her sooner, he was also enjoying her light buzz. Seeing Hanna have fun still meant so much more to him than anything else. He remembered the look in her eyes when she had grabbed the remote control to tease him, and suddenly his interest was piqued.

In one quick move, he jumped onto the couch just as Hanna reached the spot opposite him, the piece of furniture standing between them. Smiling deviously, she stopped dead in her tracks, and within the blink of an eye, Caleb seized the opportunity to take a short-cut: he jumped onto the backrest.

Hanna's clouded mind couldn't keep up with his movements, and so she lost the race the moment that Caleb took a leap down from the couch, directly to where she was standing right by the fireplace. Taken by surprise, she was unable to flee. His strong arms immediately captured her, grabbing her by the waist and engulfing her in a hug in a matter of seconds before they both pulled back to lock eyes with each other.

For a long moment, time stood still, the movie flickering across the screen long forgotten.

Hanna felt the urge to look down. Biting her lip, she was suddenly unsure as to how to continue with her plan to end their movie night. She felt a tad of embarrassment for having played a childish and drunken game of cat-and-mouse with him.

But then their eyes met again, and they each saw a yearning in each other's gaze, heightened by the current tension that had followed their breathtaking activities.

Slowly, their lips found each other's, and, instinctively, they both closed their eyes to intensify the feeling. Before long, their tongues teased one another's, dipping in and then pulling back again. Hanna brought her free arm behind his back, while the other one continued to grip the small piece of plastic that had started it all.

Caleb slowly moved an arm down from her waist to her hand, and in an instant, had snatched the item from her fingers.

Their lips parted and he grinned at her, holding up the remote control like a trophy. Without taking his eyes off of her, Caleb pointed it at the TV and pressed a button.

From her vantage point, Hanna saw the picture on the screen change to a freeze frame showing nothing but letters that she couldn't read from afar. But judging by the sudden change in music, she realized that Caleb had effortlessly switched programs, and changed the movie over to internet radio.

The music that was now filling the air matched her need for a romantic setting. Hanna wondered how the hell he had managed to play soft music with just one blind keystroke, when it usually took her forever to navigate through the vast menu of their brand-new, ultra-modern television set.

"I came prepared," Caleb told her when he saw the questioning look on her face, emphasizing his playfulness with a wink of his eye. He pointed the remote control at the TV again, and lowered the volume. Then, keeping up his teasing act, he mindlessly tossed the remote control away.

They heard the clanking noise of the plastic bar hitting something on its way to the floor, but that didn't matter now.

Hanna concentrated on the man standing in front of her, who was moving his lips in sync with the lyrics of the song that was playing on the radio.

 _And I meant every word I said_

 _When I said that I loved you_

 _I meant that I love you forever_

 _And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you_

Caleb brought his hands up to her face. Gently cupping her cheeks, he kissed her in between two verses.

' _Cause it's the only thing I wanna do_

 _I don't wanna sleep_

 _I just wanna keep on lovin' you_

He let his hands travel down to her shoulders and kissed her again, before continuing to move them further downward. They caressed over the length of her arms before finally, he reached her hands and laced his fingers with hers.

Moments later, he was holding her at the small of her back with one hand, and lifting their still joined hands up with the other. Then he started to sway with her to the rhythm of the song.

It ended shortly after, and when a new song that was unfamiliar to them both came up, they stopped dancing. Hanna's primal instincts kicked in and she moved her fingers to the hem of his t-shirt, before slowly pulling it up. When his chest was fully revealed and the shirt was bunched up at his neck, she let go of it to put her hands on his abs. Caleb finished the task for her and lifted the shirt over his head.

She let her hands roam all over his warm body, touching his well-defined pectoral muscles before her fingers stroked over his back. Bending down a little, Hanna showered his upper body with kisses, her lips barely touching his skin, which sent goosebumps all over his body despite the fact that they were standing right by the blazing fire.

When the sensation became almost unbearable, Caleb gently pulled her up and opened the zipper of her comfy soft sweat jacket. His movements were slow and, swallowing a surprised gasp, he discovered that there were no other items of clothing underneath the piece of cotton. He admiringly took in the sight of her uncovered breasts.

For a quick second, their eyes met and Hanna saw a sparkle in his gaze, prompting her to whisper, "I came prepared, too."

Suddenly, his passion was unleashed, and he hurriedly shoved the jacket from her shoulders before working his fingers into the back pockets of her lounge pants. Pulling her closer by pressing his hands into the flesh of her butt, Caleb brought their bodies together for a fervent kiss. Their tongues swept across each other's, taking the heat between them to a whole new level.

In a sudden frenzy, Caleb moved his hands down her butt, taking the pants along with them. Hanna shimmied out of her remaining clothes and tossed them aside, barely missing the open fire, before turning her attention to his jeans. A prominent bulge graced his groin and she allowed her hands to stroke over his length, which caused him to writhe under her ministrations, longing for her to strip him down, too. But she decided to torture him a little longer.

Hanna ran her hands over his chest, tracing each ridge and valley, squealing in delight when he shivered beneath her touch. Slowly she lowered her mouth to his chest, tasting him with her tongue, licking his skin and eventually his nipples, too. She slid down his body, leaving a trail of wet kisses in her path, until she reached his jeans. She silently unbuckled his belt and dragged his pants all the way down to his feet, where he kicked them off in a single vigorous movement.

Her eyes fell onto his black boxers. "These need to go, too," She whispered, dipping her fingers beneath the elastic waistband. She lowered them carefully, freeing his erection from the last interfering barrier between them. Caleb shuddered with mild relief.

She pulled the boxers off the rest of the way quickly, tossing them to the floor, her eyes never leaving him. She balanced on her knees, and took his length into her hand, tracing the soft skin gently, then closing her hand around him and stroking more firmly.

Caleb groaned and let his head fall back, pressing himself against her hand. Hanna continued caressing him for a few moments, then slowed her ministrations, leaning forward until her hair brushed against his skin. She looked up, and waited until he opened his eyes and met her gaze, then she took him into her mouth, sucking gently.

He let out a strangled groan as he arched towards her. Her hand and mouth moved in sync, bringing him to the brink of release, before she backed off time after time. Finally, she felt his fingers combing through her hair before he took her head into his hands and guided her back upwards, off of his throbbing cock.

Feeling the need to catch a breath in order to last longer, Caleb lowered himself onto his knees and gently dragged Hanna down, motioning for her to sit in his lap, straddling him. She followed his lead willingly, desperate to feel his touch once more.

Once she was sitting down with her legs crossed behind his butt and his penis trapped between their bellies, she gasped at the sudden overwhelming friction against her heated core. She threw her arms around his neck, her hands frantically searching for a hold on his back. She wriggled slightly, and was rewarded with his sharp intake of breath. Then she inched closer, moaning softly at his insistent erection grinding against her.

Hanna covered his lips with her own, plunging her tongue into his mouth and moaning when he sucked it gently. He responded to the sounds she was making, deepening the kiss and channeling back a wave of unspoken emotion. His hands settled on her waist, holding her still.

As their lips parted, he slid his hands up her sides and let his thumbs brush over her already hardened nipples. Their heavy-lidded eyes met, their gazes full of adoration. In a sudden burst of arousal, Hanna gripped his chest, mimicking the vice-like grip that her breasts were desperately craving.

His body seemed to instinctively understand her silent plea, because his hands promptly pressed against the underside of her breasts, pushing them up and in as his fingers curled around them. Her eyes closed and she moaned as his fingers gripped and released her breasts in successively harder grasps. Her hands unconsciously groped his chest at the same time, following a similar stimulating motion.

Caleb began brushing his fingertips across her nipples, building up a frustrating ache. Hanna arched her back, pushing her breasts tightly against his hands, and brought her thumbs and forefingers together to pinch his nipples. He audibly moaned and she pinched harder.

With Hanna sitting on his thighs, Caleb made use of her breasts being almost level with his head. He bent down and took one nipple into his mouth, letting is tongue swirl around the stiff peak for a few seconds before giving her right breast the exact same treatment.

She screamed as electricity seemed to fly through her body. Her eyes flew wide open as she panted in ecstasy. The frenzied sensation was an overwhelming mix of pain and pleasure, and she knew from his heavy breathing that he was feeling the same way. The rapid rising and falling of their chests seemed perfectly in sync. His wide, dilated eyes mirrored her own as they stared at each other in rapt amazement.

"I need you," Hanna huffed, "Now."

"God, yes," Came his response with raw, undisguised passion.

He reached between them and took his dick into his hand. Hanna lifted her hips to allow him access to her entrance, grinding herself against the length of his erection. She stilled and looked into his eyes, and was met by unshielded love.

In that moment, Hanna sensed a new kind of bond form between them - a metaphysical connection like nothing she had ever experienced in her life, a sense of belonging. She was positive, looking into his captivating eyes, that Caleb felt it, too.

A sultry smile appeared on her face. Then she slowly slid herself onto Caleb's engorged penis.

Somewhat constricted by his own kneeling position, Caleb let her take control. His now free hands grabbed her ass, and helped her push against the spot where their bodies merged, causing her to emit squeals of delight.

Hanna felt her heart beat even faster and she sat up straighter, placing her hands on his shoulder blades to hold herself steady. Hastening her movements, she felt his hips begin to thrust back and forth as his erection slipped deeper and deeper into her. Suddenly, she registered a slight change in their position when Caleb opened his thighs a little wider, which allowed her butt to settle deeper into his lap.

Before long, she bent backwards, changing their angle yet again – her body impulsively ground against him harder and faster. Supporting her weight by gripping his knees, she tried to watch him, and fought against the desire to roll her eyes into the back of her head. But she saw that Caleb had already given up on that same fight.

Desperately trying to hold out in order for them to come together, she enjoyed the view in front of her. Caleb's facial features had slackened in total abandonment, his eyes were closed and his lips were marginally parted. Caleb appreciated her quickening pace. He sensed that she was close, very close, and he was, too. In an effort to meet with their need for urgent release, he brought his arms up to support her back, and lowered her upper body down to the ground in one smooth movement.

Hanna became aware of the softness of the sheepskin against her back and Caleb's shifting weight above her. With their bodies still united, she opened her legs even wider, and it wasn't long before she felt him grab her waist as he drove into her frantically. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, and let go of her control, letting out a small wail followed by a high-pitched cry when she came hard almost immediately. It mixed with Caleb's guttural growl as he joined her, climaxing against the walls of her warm, wet core.

His arms were starting to feel weak and he was struggling to breathe. Caleb's hot breath brushed against her forehead, and she seemed to be fighting a similar battle, striving to regain a shred of composure. They stayed joined together for a moment as Hanna felt a sense of profound peace settle over her body.

She sighed deeply as their lips met in a meaningful kiss. "I love you, Caleb," She breathed.

Still panting, Caleb buried his head in her hair and collapsed onto her as the last remnants of his orgasm passed. "I love you, too," He gasped.

Breathing evenly again, Hanna stroked the back of his head, feeling his chest rise and fall against hers as he struggled to catch his breath. She felt deeply satisfied, both physically and emotionally, and she couldn't stop the grin that was forming on her face.

Hanna quietly let him slip from her body as he rolled onto his side, snuggling against her with one leg placed over hers. She reached out and clasped his hand, intertwining their fingers, and closed her eyes, allowing herself to concentrate on the lyrics of the song currently playing on the internet radio.

 _You know that I'm obsessed with your body_

 _But it's the way you smile that does it for me_

He propped himself up on one arm and joined her in silence, listening to the romantic tunes. His gaze swept over her face, taking in the view of the content smile on her lips.

 _It's so sweet, knowing that you love me_

 _Though we don't need to say it to each other, sweet_

 _Knowing that I love you, and running my fingers through your hair_

 _It's so sweet_

He couldn't help but let his free hand caress her still sweaty torso. Keeping her eyes closed, Hanna enjoyed his touch.

 _Watching the video where you're lying_

 _In your red lingerie ten times nightly_

 _You know I think your skin's the perfect color_

 _But it's always your eyes that pull me under_

In the light of the blazing fire beside them, and with her sweet body lying next to him, Caleb lowered his mouth to her face, brushing it lightly against her temples. At that, she finally opened her eyes again, surprised to see that he was looking at her so intently.

 _And I will gladly break it, I will gladly break my heart for you_

Their gazes locked, and they both tried to grasp the meaning of the words echoing repeatedly through their apartment. They instantly knew that they were both thinking about the same thing… about how Caleb had broken his own heart to give her the opportunity to achieve the career that she used to strive for… how he had let go of the thought of getting back together with her when he had learned about her engagement… how he had let go of her yet again when she had insisted that the kiss they had shared at the Lost Woods Resort had meant nothing to her, knowing that that had been a lie.

But now they were here, together again at last, feeling the same kind of connection that they used to feel before their break-up. Caleb realized, at that moment, the reason for which some people tended to describe certain things or people in their life as _sweet_.

Wanting to find out the name of the artist who was singing the song, he raised his head until the TV screen was in his view. Once his eyes had made sense of the small letters shown on the screen, he chuckled and laid back down.

Hanna eyed him questioningly, asking, "What? What's wrong?"

"I wanted to know who's singing this song," He told her.

"And?" She pressed on, still not understanding his reaction. She tried to read the words, too, but knowing that her eyesight wasn't that good, she soon gave up and asked, "Why is that funny?"

"Cigarettes After Sex," Came his blunt reply before he laughed again.

Seeing the challenging look on her face, he hurried to explain, "That's the name of the band. Cigarettes After Sex."

When she finally understood, she chimed in and grinned at him.

"Well, I'm gonna try this…" He brought his head back down to her upper body again, "For a change." He finished the sentence before he started to cover every inch of her skin with gentle kisses until the song came to an end.

"Wait," He suddenly stopped his movements, his loving gaze sweeping over the entire length of her body like a child taking in the decorated tree on Christmas morning.

Hanna sat up, her body alert with anticipation. "Stay like this. I'll be right back." His hand gestured for her to remain seated right where she was, the flickering flames by her side throwing changing shadows all over her nude shape.

Her eyes followed him as he walked across the room; when he found the remote control, he bent down and picked it up before turning the TV off. Then he turned around again and walked out of the living room, through the open bedroom door. Her gaze lingered on that same spot, waiting for him to return with whatever he had been so eager to show her in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

She heard the opening and closing of a drawer and the dull thuds of his feet padding over the hardwood floor before he appeared at the door again. Originally thinking that he had gone to get some clothes for himself, she was surprised to see him just as undressed as before, except for the small brown paper bag that he was now carrying in his hand.

Caleb stopped short in the doorframe as soon as he saw her beaming face, waiting for him just like he had asked her to. He curled his lips in reply to her steady smile. Staying put, he leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, and just watched her as she sat by the fire.

The way her hair long hair was spread wildly around her face, so completely out of control, bearing witness to their physical exertions… her lips swollen from the endless array of kisses they had shared. She looked so imperfectly perfect, a sight to behold.

When he saw her blush under his intent gaze, Caleb cleared his throat and said quietly, "You know the other night… when we made up and had sex by this fireplace… you looked so beautiful. Just like you do now."

The shade of red on Hanna's cheeks seemed to darken and she had to look down.

"When we were at the mall on Saturday, I bought something for you," He chuckled, and raised his arm so that she could see that he had actually gotten up in order to give her something.

She let her eyes travel back to him, anxious to learn what was in the little inconspicuous paper bag.

Caleb pushed himself away from the doorframe, and padded back to their spot on the sheepskin. Sitting down opposite Hanna, he handed her the bag with a shy smile on his face. She took it into her hand and instantaneously noticed its light weight. As a reflex, she shook it, but since there was absolutely no noise, it didn't give anything away.

"Just open it," Caleb encouraged her.

"Is there a speech that goes with it?" Hanna asked mockingly.

"Not really. I saw this in a store window and it reminded me of you. So I bought it. It's nothing big, really," He explained with a low voice.

She deliberately took her time to unfasten the decorative button that held the bag shut firmly, whilst Caleb watched her in silence. Her hands reached inside and she felt something incredibly soft graze her finger tips. Curiously, she pulled a silky midnight-blue piece of clothing from the bag. She unfolded it with her eyes wide open to reveal a delicate negligé.

"It's so pretty," She said whilst gently stroking her fingers over the soft material.

"It reminded me of your big blue eyes in the light of this fireplace," His low voice sounded.

"I love it," She told him sincerely whilst holding it in front of her body to check its size and form.

"Well, put it on. I wanna see what it looks like on you," Caleb begged her.

She willingly complied and carefully pulled it over her head. The flimsy material hugged her slender frame in all the right places, and the cool silk felt so good against her heated skin. The huge smile forming on her face showed her elation and gratefulness.

He nodded his head in admiration, "Just like I pictured it in the store." He laid down on the sheepskin again, gently dragging her down with him by her arm.

He rolled them over until she was lying on top of him. His hands pushed the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, eager to see more of her delighted face. Hanna put her palms on his chest and enjoyed the quiet intimate moment with him.

They lay like that for several moments. Caleb looked at the ceiling, smiling and occasionally chuckling as if he were watching a flashback movie of their life together flickering across an imaginary screen somewhere above him. "Can you believe that among the seven and a half billion people in this world, we found each other?"

"Twice," She added with a quiet voice whilst gently fondling the hair above his ears.

"Twice," He repeated, and looked back into her eyes, "We're both very lucky." After pausing for a few seconds, Caleb continued, "I've lived in so many places, so many different states, met so many people, good and bad. I never would have guessed that I'd meet the love of my life at Rosewood High School, of all places."

Hanna smiled back at him and moved her head to place a kiss over his heart, her own suddenly too constricted with emotions for her to express herself verbally in the wake of his sincere words.

His eyes were gazing at her with such intensity, little yellow sparks dancing in his dilated pupils as the fire continued to flicker and blaze beside them. Its crackling was the only noise in the room, now that the music was no longer filling the air.

Hanna shifted and lowered herself, nestling into his side. She lay in his arms and gazed around the room, trying to grasp the almost unreal direction her life had taken; A.D. was possibly still in hiding after her prime suspect Noel Kahn had died, someone else had shot at her friend Spencer, and foremost Caleb was still in love with her… or yet again in love with her. She didn't care. All she knew was that these past days with him had been the happiest she had experienced in a really long time, if ever.

She felt bad for not being able to voice her emotions the way that he could so effortlessly. She so desperately wanted to tell him, too, how she felt about him, but when she finally opened her mouth to speak, Caleb cut in, unaware of her intentions, "Come on, let's move this to our bed. I don't think I can spend another night sleeping on the floor." Gleaming at her shrewdly, he added, "And after seeing you in this hot piece of negligé, I do intend to use the bed by tomorrow morning."

At a loss for words, she just stared at him. It felt _so_ good to be desired by him.

After pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her cleavage, he got up and held his hands out for her. As soon as she was standing, Caleb let go of her hands and took care of the electric fireplace, turning it off whilst at the same time picking up Hanna's sketchbook from where it lay on the window seat.

In passing, he also picked up the wine bottle from the floor, where it had fallen earlier when it was hit by the remote control. A small red puddle had spread and trickled onto the rug covering the floor by the couch. He placed the empty bottle on the kitchen counter.

"Fuck, Lucas is gonna kill me. We ruined his expensive rug," Hanna said upon discovering the stain.

"Well, I'd say that now we really, really need to get our table back to cover that stain," Came Caleb's ironic remark.

Hanna walked over to their bedroom, with Caleb following right behind her. He put the sketchbook on his night table.

After they had both successively disappeared into the bathroom, they resumed their positions under the covers of their bed, cuddled up in each other's arms.

He took the sketchbook into his hand, asking, "So, do you wanna show me what you've been working on in the past days? I'd really like to see."

She yawned before answering, "Can I show you tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"Sure." Their lips met in a sweet kiss before Caleb said, "Good night, baby."

Instead of returning the sentiment, Hanna gently touched his arm and propped herself up on her elbow in order to see his face better. "Caleb?"

"Mmhm?" Came his mumbled response.

"Would you do me a favor?" Hanna looked at him, a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Anything," Caleb spoke with closed eyes, almost asleep.

"Pinch me when you wake up tomorrow morning before I do, okay?"

At that, he was wide awake again – he shot her a questioning gaze. When he realized that she meant what she had said, he laughed, "No! No, I'm not gonna do that. You're gonna punch me if I touch you like that in your sleep. You're not a morning person, Han."

"Please, I need to know that I'm not dreaming. That this… us… is really happening. Seriously, this is the third time that an anonymous stalker is threatening me and my friends. My whole life feels like a horror movie, and it's not even a good one 'cause there are so many unanswered questions and too many-"

"Hanna," He cut in as he lifted his upper body and came to lie on his side, supporting his weight on his elbow just like her, disrupting her late-night rant. Deep down he enjoyed it, though, because it was just so Hanna. "I don't know who A.D. is, but soon we'll find out who's been behind all this. What I _can_ assure you of is that I know that you and me… we're as real as can be."

Caleb took her hand that was lying flat on the mattress, and laced his fingers with hers. Their gazes met, and he saw a tad of uncertainty in her bright blue eyes. "I feel like you don't believe me after everything that's happened with me and Spencer… and us… I keep repeating myself, but if that's what you need to gain assurance… to feel real again, I'm gonna say it every single day for the rest of our lives."

He knew exactly why she needed him to assure her of his feelings over and over again – he had read about it in the trauma guide. And so, without further ado, he moved his free hand to her face and gently stroked her silky hair, brushing it behind her ear, almost as if she would hear him better that way.

He continued speaking with a soothing voice, taking her hand and placing it on his chest so that she could feel his heart pounding. "Whenever I look at you… my heart keeps missing a beat. Can you feel that? Because I definitely can…"

He moved his head forward, and laid a tender kiss on her forehead. "When I kiss you… there are goosebumps all over my body, I can feel that…"

Holding his face mere inches from hers, his lips traveled the short distance between them to press another kiss to the tip of her nose. Then, he pulled back to see her entire beautiful face again. "And every time we sleep with each other… you fill my heart with so much love that it feels like it's gonna burst."

Hanna instantly looked down, blushing from the overwhelming effect his words were having on her.

"I definitely feel that. It's the best feeling of all," He finished. "That is all I need in my life, for me to know that we're real."

He smiled at her, and brushed her lips with feathery light kisses that caused the butterflies in her belly to erupt into a dancing, tingling mass, causing her breath to spiral out of control as if suffering a loss of oxygen; in her mind she was somewhere up in the clouds, drifting off to the place that she went to whenever she was around him.

It was almost frightening. But at the same time, she never ever wanted to let go of that feeling.

Shyly, Hanna kept looking down at her hands, still feeling flustered by the way in which he could reach out and speak directly to her soul; even when he didn't use any words, he could still make all her doubts disappear into oblivion. When she looked up again, he saw that his ministrations had managed to change the look of uncertainty into some kind of awe.

As she found her voice again, she started to chuckle, "You see, this is exactly what I meant. You say all those things and I can't help but think that this must be a dream. So I need you to assure me that it's not."

He kissed her lips firmly and asked, "Does this help?"

At that, she gently nudged his face away using her forefinger. "I'm serious, Caleb!"

"Then go pinch yourself," He laughed at her, "Isn't that how it's supposed to work, anyway?"

She playfully slapped him on his chest.

"You just proved my point," He laughed out loud, before letting his body fall back against his pillow as he ran his hand through his hair in mock despair. "I love you, Hanna."

Their lips came together for a passionate good-night kiss, before they changed positions and Caleb cuddled against Hanna's back, spooning her from behind.

"I love you, too. See you in the morning."

 _to be continued…_

* * *

A/N

 _The songs used in this chapter are CIGARETTES AFTER SEX "Sweet" and R.E.O. SPEEDWAGON "Keep on loving you" (also covered by CIGARETTES AFTER SEX). You should take the time and listen to them now!_

* * *

 _Hi everyone who's still reading Haleb fanfiction! This is the penultimate chapter. Thank you for taking the time to read. If you want to make my day, I would love for you to leave a review. I'll gladly trade you for a preview of the final chapter 14._

 _A huge thank you to Jenna for doing amazing beta-work again, and to my girls from the GC for inspiration, patience and the unabated support! Ladies, you rock!_

 _I wasn't planning to do this, but… to the anonymous reviewers asking the most important questions, here's your answers: I am well aware that I haven't mentioned any form of precautions in any of my chapters. In my fanfiction bubble, it is sort of a given that as a grown-up and as a woman who has only been in long-term relationships, Hanna would use the kind of contraception that'll serve its purpose on a more regular basis, like the pill or a hormone spiral. Choose whichever you prefer… :D And if you're thinking about STDs now, I say that she simply trusts Caleb! They've known each other long enough._

 _And about the a*** thing… get your mind out of the gutter! Not in my story! They've only been together for a couple of days... allow them a little more time until they try out new (or old?) stuff... ;-)_

 _To everyone else, I hope you enjoyed reading this. At any rate, it's been a blast writing it!_

 _XOXO, Zip_


	14. Chapter 14 - TUESDAY after midnight

**Chapter 14 – TUESDAY after midnight**

A sudden gasp sounded through the quiet of the night in Hanna and Caleb's loft.

Another night, another nightmare.

Hanna sat up in bed and rubbed her temples. How much had she had to drink last night?

She then tried rubbing the corners of her eyes as if to wipe away the images of her vivid dream from her mind.

She had been dreaming about Caleb's phone again, about how it had been ringing over and over, but this time, she had been able to answer it before it went dead. But instead of hearing Caleb's drunk voice calling her from Prague, begging her to come meet him in Europe so that they could continue their vacation together, she'd had to suffer through Jenna Marshall's gruff voice saying time and again, "Sorry, I missed. I've got one more bullet in my gun and next time it's going to hit _you_!"

Hanna anxiously laid down again and nestled herself into Caleb's side; he stirred at the sudden warmth against his skin before his arm pulled her closer again. Before long, the safety of his embrace caused her to doze off.

 **XXXXX**

At first, only her right eye opened, and it was immediately welcomed by the early morning brightness of the bedroom. She shut it again straight away, only for the same thing to happen with her left eye.

 _Too much effort. Too much light._ She shut that eye, too.

She willed herself to go back to sleep, failing when short flashbacks of a previous night danced through her mind… happy memories worth reliving, worth relishing over and over again.

 _Caleb massaging her back thoroughly, until his hands suddenly took a wrong turn and brought the word relief to a whole new level._

She stretched out, sighing deeply.

Where had the past few days gone? Despite the nightmare she'd had, she felt strangely refreshed. She gave those wonderful, snug hours of darkness laying skin to skin with Caleb credit for that. After only a few days of living together again, falling asleep next to him and waking up again in the morning with him by her side was starting to feel so familiar again. It was a feeling that she deeply appreciated in the turmoil that was her life, with all the unexpected messages and threats this A.D. kept unleashing on her.

Using all of her might, Hanna opened both of her eyes in order to get some idea of what time of day it was.

Caleb lay to her left side, his back turned to her. He seemed to be sound asleep, breathing in and out evenly. His naked back was peeking out from under the covers, and she desperately wanted him to turn around so that she could cuddle up against his warm chest, a sure-fire way for her to doze off instantaneously, the peaceful sound of his heartbeat reverberating close to her ear.

Oddly, she had woken up laying on her back, even though she had fallen asleep on Caleb's shoulder after her nightmare. She remembered that he had held her in a tight embrace, their legs intertwined.

When did he turn around without waking her? She momentarily missed the feel of his skin on hers, and the way he always held her like she was the most precious thing on earth. There was nothing like it. But she also knew that he actually hated sleeping on his back, and so she assumed that he must have had waited until she was asleep and changed positions soon after.

Hanna stuck her arm out and let it slide down to the ground. In an attempt to pick up her phone with as little movement as possible, she let her hand wander across the floor. When her fingers made the contact with what she was looking for, she snatched it up and unlocked the display.

Incredulously, she stared at the clock.

5:22 AM.

 _Ugh. Seriously?_

She let the phone slip from her palm, and it softly landed on the mattress right next to her pillow.

It had been a long time since she had woken up this early. Now that she didn't really have structured working hours, she enjoyed sleeping in or getting up whenever Caleb had to get up.

Hanna then tried a different technique in order to fall asleep again. She thought of all the hours she had spent in his arms, half-awake, half-asleep, drifting between the two states with absolute assurance that she would always feel safe in Caleb's arms, and that he truly loved her.

Her mind was racing, greedily flashing back to the most intimate moments she'd shared with him over the course of the past week. Has it really been only a week since they had gotten back together?

Whenever she was lying in his arms, she felt like it had always been her rightful home, like it would forever be the place that she would turn to for comfort. She felt like there had never been a time when she didn't fit perfectly into the crook between his neck and shoulder, held tightly by his arms, his cheek resting against her forehead – even though his light stubble tickled her.

 _No, this wasn't helping at all._

She turned around and settled back into her pillow, her eyes shut tightly. In her mind, she was reliving making love to Caleb by the fireplace.

 _Ugh, Hanna, stop it._

She couldn't help herself. How could she not think about Caleb when his naked body was just inches away from hers?

Hanna propped herself up on her elbow and looked at the sleeping figure beside her, thinking about all the things that he had said to her last night. Her love for him was overflowing her system, looking for a release.

Should she dare to wake him at this time of day? The first rays of sun were peeking into their bedroom. Maybe he wouldn't notice that it was still early?

In a split second, she had made her decision. She reached out for his upper arm and pinched him there.

Caleb stirred, flinching as if he was shaking a fly or mosquito off of him. But other than that, he didn't show any signs of waking.

Hanna tried again, pinching him one more time in the exact same spot. A small smile flashed across her face the second that her touch caused him to jerk his head around. Caleb scoffed when he saw she was wide awake and looking at him expectantly. He shifted to lie on his back so that he could face her.

"What's the big idea?" His husky morning voice broke the silence.

Gently stroking his arm, Hanna looked at him lovingly. "I'm just making sure that you're real."

At seeing her smile, he couldn't resist pulling her head closer as he leaned over to brush one, two open-mouthed kisses against her lips.

"That'll do." She sat up and looked down at him. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"I have a few ideas," he said with a mischievous grin as he moved closer, intending to kiss her again. But Hanna softly pushed him back down.

"Or we can use that energy to track down Jenna. She's out there. I can feel it. I think the Grunwald is starting to rub off on me."

"Well, I'm not gonna challenge the logic in that," he muttered with a serious undertone in his voice.

"Noel's dead, but Jenna's… still out there, and we have to find her," she said absentmindedly.

"We will. But I'm not taking any chances with you. The last time I let you ouf of my sight I lost you down the rabbit hole," he murmured with a concerned expression on his face.

"It was a hotel hole, not a rabbit hole," she corrected him with a grin.

"It's time that Hanna worried about Hanna." He picked up her sketchbook which was still lying on his night table and placed it on the covers right in front of her. Hanna opened it and studied the colorful image she had drawn on its very first page.

Noticing her lack of excitement about being able to show him what she had designed, Caleb quietly reminded her, "There was a time when you wanted this so badly that it broke us up."

Hanna instantly looked back at his face and reassured him, "I would never let that happen again."

"I know. I know. But if you don't do this, you're gonna regret it. So let me worry about Jenna, okay?"

Hanna avoided his gaze; she wanted to tell Caleb to stay away from the possibly dangerous situation, but at the same time, she was thankful that she had someone in her life who was willing to risk everything for her.

The room fell silent as Caleb watched her stare at a distant point somewhere on the wall, waiting for her to turn around and face him again. "Hanna? It's gonna be okay, do you hear me?" he tried to comfort her.

It wasn't helping.

Finally, Caleb broke the awkwardness by taking her by the arm and pulling her towards him. "Come here, beautiful," he whispered.

She turned her head and saw his eyes, full of love.

As she shifted and snuggled into his arms, he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her gently and then not so gently. His hand stroked along her jawline, caressed her neck, and wandered along her shoulder to the strap of her negligé. Then, his finger traced down the strap to the plunging neckline before going further down to the swell of her breasts and back up again to her clavicle.

Hanna felt a shiver run through her at the promise of his fingers grazing more parts of her body. But, in a matter of seconds, it was over. Their lips parted and Caleb settled back into his pillow, yawning.

"Do you wanna go out for breakfast? Your mom said it was okay if I worked from home for the next two days, as long as I occasionally check in at the hotel to run some tests. So I'm pretty much free to work whenever I like."

Hanna screwed up her face, "I can't imagine that there's any breakfast place in Rosewood that's open at half past five. Uuuuuggh," she groaned desperately.

At that, Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Babe, why are you up already? Couldn't sleep?"

Sighing, Hanna answered, "Uh, there's just so much stuff going on in my mind."

"Well, do you wanna tell me all about it now?"

"So that you can fall back to sleep again before me?" She teased him, causing him to grimace back at her. "No, it's okay. Really. I'll work it out eventually," she assured him.

A new thought crossed his mind and Caleb pressed a light kiss to her shoulder while he was leaning over to her side of the bed. "I have an idea."

Giving in to his sultry promise for more by turning her body in his direction, Hanna didn't notice that he was reaching for something lying on her bedside table until suddenly, the screen of their bedroom TV flared up.

Before long, the infamous letters of the Netflix logo popped up on screen, and Hanna had an inkling about what Caleb was up to. As soon as Leonardo DiCaprio's bearded face appeared on their television yet again, she knew that her assumptions had been right.

"Maybe we'll both be able to fall back to sleep again," he chuckled.

"Wait! I thought you liked the movie?" Hanna asked incredulously.

"Hanna, I was just teasing you last night. I would have watched any movie with you if it meant spending time cuddled up on the couch with you by my side." He grinned at her. "Besides… there's basically no female characters in that movie. You could have chosen something nice for me to look at, too."

"Oh, like Leo was so nice to look at?" She retorted in mock reproach before they both broke out in laughter. Sighing, she concluded, "Alright, let's give this another shot."

They both scrunched up their pillows at the headrest and settled back in them. Hanna laid her head onto his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat which she'd become attuned to hearing when she was lying close to him in bed. She was hoping that it would also alleviate the apprehension creeping through her body after the dream she'd had a few hours ago.

Caleb started the movie and it picked up from where they had abandoned it the night before. A mere two minutes later, he suddenly asked, "Do you think I should grow a beard like him?"

Her death stare hit him before he had even finished asking the question. "Don't you dare!"

"How about his long hair?" he kept teasing her. "I could always grow my hair out again. I know where to find my old beanie hat."

She tried to picture him like that in her mind. "I could live with it," she told him truthfully.

"Way to show your enthusiasm. I thought you loved my long hair." Caleb wrapped his arm around her and let his fingers trail over her skin in lazy strokes.

Hanna yawned and then reached out with her arm to ruffle his hair. "I loved you when your hair was long and I love you now that your hair is short. It's not about the hair and you know that."

"Then what is it about? If it's not my incredibly lovable hair, what do you love about me?" He pulled back slightly and gazed at her, a keen smile playing around his lips as he waited for her answer. _Time to go fishing, though in totally different waters. This should be interesting..._

He had asked purely on a whim. He had expected a couple of reproachful sentences about the things that irritated her the most about him, just like he had listed those things to her a mere week ago. He knew now that, in the end, that speech had rewarded him with the most meaningful night of his life… so far.

But he hadn't expected Hanna to expose herself to such extent.

She didn't have to think for long. For the first time in a while, she knew exactly what she wanted to say. Felt the intense need to tell him at last what she was thinking, especially after everything that he had said the night before. And now, she actually felt strong enough to go through with it.

"I love your eyes…. Your amazingly pretty hazel eyes." She spoke in a low voice, pausing every so often as she tried to work out what she was going to say in her head. "One look at them and I feel at home. They're the most comforting sight in the world. Whenever I feel like my mind is going off into the deep end again, I know that I only need to look at your eyes to make me feel sane again… to make me feel secure and… loved. I never realized how much I craved that feeling. I used to think I was an independent woman who could handle things on her own."

For a split second, Caleb considered poking fun at her, not only to obscure his shyness about receiving compliments from her, but also to make light of the moment.

But then, realizing how hard it must have been for her to voice her emotions and that she was finally in a good enough place to be able to talk about it, he kept his mouth shut and just let her talk.

"Everything I worked for in my career, everything I did to get over my anxiety attacks… A.D. took it from me… again."

In the background, the movie kept playing, but Caleb didn't dare move a muscle in order to turn it off, afraid that it would break her chain of thought.

"I'm just not who I used to be anymore," she was almost whispering now. "And I'm so grateful to have you back in my life." She sighed deeply. "Because what I love most about you…" She bit her lower lip and looked upwards to keep herself from bursting into tears. "… is that even though I barely ever laugh anymore… or even though I wake you up almost every other night after I've had another nightmare… or even though I can't bear being alone in the dark and I scream at the top of my lungs whenever I step into the shower a second too soon and the water hasn't heated properly yet… but most of all, even though I often give the people in my life a really hard time for fear of trusting the wrong people and ending up hurt…"

A single tear that she had so gravely struggled to keep in, came rolling down her cheek. Caleb reached his thumb out to wipe it away, but he retreated when he saw Hanna slap on a smile. "It's okay, it needs to come out at some point." She took a deep breath and continued, "Even though I worked really hard to keep you at bay because of everything going on with Jordan and Spencer, you still fought for that place in my heart that I had locked away safely and put a fence around…"

"Barbwire is more like it," Caleb joked, daring to interrupt her as he realized that she had dropped some of the inhibitions.

His joke didn't fail; Hanna grinned.

"You were like my knight in shining armor, climbing right over it as you came to my loft that night, saying all those nasty things about me…"

Both laughed at the memory of that unforgettable night.

"Yeah, what were you thinking, anyway?" She questioned him, laughing.

"I thought that just being nice and understanding wouldn't do the trick anymore. Han, I had to speak up to make myself heard and to make you see that you're not a weak victim. I knew you were still that same strong woman, the one that nothing and nobody could ever break. A.D. tried, but you're one tough nut to crack. I've been through this with you once before and I would never let you go through it again all on your own."

"This. Right there. This is why I love you so much… more than you'll ever know. Because you are the most loyal person I've ever known. And the most honest. Sometimes I forget that it was you who once pulled me out of a different kind of misery. Meeting you and falling in love with you at a time when you barely had more than the clothes you were wearing, was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It gave me some perspective. I made a lot of bad decisions when I was in high school. Some of them still haunt me to this day. But allowing you into my home and my heart were the two best decisions I ever made. You made me a better person. And when we moved to New York together, when we had our little talks at our table... that helped me more than any therapy ever could. Despite how things turned out in the end, they were the happiest years of my life. And if I could make any wish for my future, I'd want nothing more than to have those carefree years with you back in my life again. I can do without New York and I might be able to do without my own fashion business. But I could never do without you."

Caleb's mind was spinning. Was this her way of reciprocating the proposal of sorts he had sprung on her a week ago? He remembered every single word he had said to her and how he was almost about to give up on her, had she not finally cracked that night. Even if he'd had to resort to desperate measures like calling her an ass, indirectly, to do it.

Before he allowed his mind to drift off, he pulled Hanna closer and kissed her lips tenderly. Her words and his thoughts about their night of uninhibited sex stirred a longing deep within him. He so wanted to ravish her at that moment, wanted to give her all the love she deserved in return. But he kept his hands to himself and let her determine whether she wanted to take things further. After all, she had been the one slowing him down before, when he had made it clear how he had intended to spend the day with her. Of course, he would have pretended he was hard at work in his home office in front of his boss, Hanna's mother.

When the kiss broke, he gently wove his hand through her hair and played with some loose strands. They had both run out of words for now and allowed the tension in the room to dissipate. For other, manlier reasons, Caleb was having a tougher time doing so. He needed to get rid of an aching hard-on that she wasn't even aware of, or else she might have given in, he figured.

As if on cue, Hanna suddenly switched topics; a trait Caleb had gotten used to long ago. Most of the time, it annoyed him to no end, but this time it was actually helpful.

"So, you would have watched any movie with me? Even… let's say… an animated movie?" She beamed at him before they both sunk a little deeper into their pillows.

"Anything. And I would have made sure we'd have ended up by that fireplace anyway, he murmured with a gleam in his eye. After her body had tightly molded into his arms, he resumed his task of stroking her hair gently. "Now let's get this movie over with. You should try to sleep, there's plenty of time until my alarm goes off."

Hanna sighed languorously and placed her hand on his chest, searching for his comforting heartbeat.

The room fell silent except for the noises coming from _The Revenant_ , which was still flickering across the screen.

It wasn't long before one of them could make out the faint but even breathing in and out of a sleeping body close by.

Hanna lifted her head off of his shoulder and frowned at Caleb, who was fast asleep.

"Great," came her sarcastic remark. "This isn't how this was supposed to work."

She grabbed the remote control that lay on top of the covers and pressed a few buttons. Soon after, the familiar music of _The Little Mermaid_ filled the air.

Hanna adjusted the volume, not wanting to wake Caleb. Judging by the slight smirk that was adorning his face, she knew that he must have been having a very pleasant dream. She shifted and sank deeper into her pillow, feeling a little more appeased than before, now that she had finally gotten some things off of her chest.

 **XXXXX**

Caleb stirred, woken by the upbeat sounds of the closing credits of what he assumed had to be some sort of Disney movie. Was he still dreaming?

Opening his eyes, he had trouble orienting himself. The TV was still on, and the sunlight was now streaming brightly into the room. He noticed that his beloved 'heating pad' wasn't lying flush to his body anymore. Turning his head to her side of the bed, he found Hanna laying flat on her back, sleeping soundly.

His eyes traveled downward and eventually found her right hand resting on the covers, clutching the remote control. He carefully leaned over and pressed the off button without so much as touching Hanna. Her hair was sticking out from beneath her head in all sorts of directions, a look so wild, yet so vulnerable.

He could never get enough of the sight.

Especially when, in her case, the blanket had slipped down her silky night dress, revealing not only her naked shoulders, but also her cleavage. What foremost caught his gaze was the fact that the negligé she had put on for him yesterday, had slipped to the side, thereby revealing one of her naked breasts.

He watched her sleep for a minute. Apart from her eyes, which he could see moving behind closed eyelids, her body lay absolutely still. Figuring that she had to be in REM sleep at that very moment, he pondered when he should make his obnoxious move. But beforehand, Caleb turned around and picked up his phone from where it was laying on the floor.

7:34 AM. _Perfect!_

In the blink of an eye, his hand reached out and pinched her in the most prominent spot she currently had to offer: her exposed nipple.

Expecting a punch or a slap from her, Caleb was surprised his boldness wasn't met with any of her usual defense mechanisms at all. Unless he was counting the immediate reaction from her body that his fingers had triggered.

He watched in amazement as the dark flesh of her areola puckered and rose to a stiff peak, aroused by the small touch of his hand. Intrigued, he reached out again to repeat his daring maneuver, when a low, punctuated voice suddenly broke the silence, "Don't… Even… Think… About… It."

His head whipped round as if he had just been caught in the act of doing something prohibited. He blushed slightly.

"Hey, you're up."

Before she had the chance to change her mind and lunge out, Caleb quickly moved his body and lay down on top of her, pinning her hands down to the mattress with his own holding on to her wrists. He stretched her arms out either side of her until he came lying flush against her.

"Good morning," she brought her head up to cross the short distance between their mouths and greeted him properly. "Did you just do what I think you did?" She nudged him.

"Well, you did ask me to pinch you in the morning. You did not specify where." Caleb started to defend his actions with a broad smile on his face.

"And you thought that spot might be your safest bet?" She continued with a gleam in her eyes. She hadn't minded his way of waking her, not at all. If anything, she was secretly enjoying his dominant behavior.

"To be fair, you didn't punch me in the face. So, we're making progress here." He closed his eyes and pressed feather light kisses against her lips.

"Hey, have I ever told you how hot you look in that negligé?" He whispered huskily into her ear.

"I think your eyes may have given you away. They've basically been burning holes into the silk ever since I put the thing on." Hanna whispered back before she started nibbling at his earlobe.

He nodded in approval. His erection had sprung back to life and this time, there was no way that Hanna couldn't have noticed as it was trapped right between their bodies, achingly constricted by his underwear.

"And have I told you that you look even hotter without it?" His head traveled down and hovered over her exposed skin. He didn't wait for her answer. Still holding on to her wrists, his mouth closed over her nipple, eliciting a low moan from deep within her throat. He felt her struggle for freedom - she was desperately trying to grab hold of something. Caleb helped her out by moving his hands a little bit further down her wrists until he could lace their fingers together. Her grip became more intense, and it spurred him on, encouraging her to enhance his ministrations.

She felt his lips following a trail along her jawline, down her neck, across her shoulder and down to her breast again before they captured her lips in a searing kiss.

And then he let go of her hands to remove the negligé from her slightly shuddering body. Hanna lifted her hips to speed up the process. As soon as the garment went flying across the room, his hands were all over her body, caressing, massaging, tickling her until Hanna stopped him dead in his tracks with one targeted move. Her own hand yanked his boxers down far enough so that she could grab his dick and pump it up and down. Caleb's eyes immediately rolled to the back of his head and his loud groan filled the room.

She was always amazed at how attuned they were to each other. Each time they made love was just as exciting and just as sweet as the first time. It was just so… perfect. Hanna sighed. Would their love and especially their lovemaking always be so right, so perfect? She sighed again.

Caleb heard her and opened his eyes as he croaked. "Something wrong, baby?"

"I was just wondering…," she started but then paused.

"Now? Seriously?" He huffed.

Hanna ignored his comment. "Caleb? Do you think it will always be like this between us?"

"Huh?" He was having trouble thinking straight.

"I mean us, living together… like we are now?"

"Like what?" Slowly, vigilance was returning to him. "Me doing the cooking and you looking gorgeous? Or you babbling like a brook in the middle of sex and me trying to follow the ebb and flow of your stream of consciousness when all blood has left my brain?"

Hanna looked him in the eyes. "No, I mean… _us_. You and me. It's just that it's so …" She smiled and looked at the ceiling, hoping to find the right words.

"Perfect? Yeah, it is." Caleb bent down to capture her lips in a kiss, but Hanna turned her head away.

"I'm serious."

Caleb looked directly into her eyes. "Well, so am I, Han. It _is_ perfect between us. It always will be."

"How can you be so sure?" She murmured.

"Because I love you and you love me. It's that simple." He smiled with as much conviction as he could muster.

When Hanna gave him a look as if he had just sprouted a third eye, he took her hands in his and explained. "Our love has withstood so many trials and tribulations. Because of those psychos A. and A.D., we have gone through more than most couples could ever imagine. And we're still here. You and me. Together. That'll never change, Hanna. My feelings will never change. I'll never stop loving you."

Hanna eyes brightened with unshed tears. "I don't think I'll ever stop loving you either."

Caleb smiled tenderly at her. His hand moved to cup the side of her face lovingly. "So… no more talk about whether or not what we have is perfect, okay? It just is. Deal?"

Hanna blinked her eyes and smiled. "Deal. Shall we shake on it?"

Caleb shook his head. "Nope. That's not how we seal our deal."

"It's not?"

"Nope. Shaking hands is for partners in business." His smile widened as his head leaned down to hers again. "Now, for two people in love…"

Their lips met, softly at first, their tongues tentatively touching, reaching out to re-discover the intimate crevices and textures of the other's mouth.

Caleb sighed into the kiss, and it wasn't long before Hanna pushed her doubts to the back of her mind. She hated having all these negative thoughts, questioning their future together. It angered her that she still had such a hard time coping with her mental issues.

After all, he was Caleb. Kind, gentle, strong, honest, dependable. All of those and so much more. Caleb, her first love... and her last.

She reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair away from his face before trailing her hand through his hair, gently stroking the side of his face. Her thumb traced along his cheekbone and she watched as his eyelids flutter to a close as he reacted to her soft touch. She continued to move her hand across his face, her touch feather-soft, her fingers tracing his profile, memorizing his features.

Her fingers reached his lips and traced along their outer edges. Her hand then moved to her own lips, feeling the contrast in texture. Returning to his, she once more traced along them, watching silently as his lips gently parted. Her fingers continued to explore further, now gently stroking his lower lip.

She pulled him closer to her, craving the feeling of his warmth on her skin. She heard his breathing slowly changing, becoming more shallow as his body reacted to her touch. She leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips, stopping just millimeters away. Slowly, tentatively, her tongue reached out and flicked across his upper lip.

Suddenly, Caleb's arms tightened around her and the distance between their lips was closed. Hanna gasped, her tongue immediately darting into Caleb's mouth, her arms wrapping around his neck as she was pressed into the mattress.

Caleb groaned once before breaking the kiss. He began to trail moist kisses along her jawline, murmuring against her skin between kisses.

"Um… this morning… I... was… having this… wonderful... dream…"

Hanna remembered the content look on his face and managed to blurt out a short question. "But?"

Caleb chuckled and raised his head from nibbling at her earlobe. "But…" He dipped his head down once more and lightly bit her earlobe before soothing it with his tongue. "I like reality much better," he whispered huskily in her ear.

His hands roamed over her body, and Hanna stretched out, raising her hands over her head. The action elicited a groan from Caleb as her breasts pressed against his chest. He made quick work of removing her panties. As they fluttered to the floor, Caleb placed his mouth over one of her breasts, his tongue lapping over her taut nipple.

Hanna closed her eyes and arched her back. Her hands reached for the railings of the headboard as Caleb's mouth moved away from her breast and began a slow exploration of the rest of her body.

As Caleb's tongue whirled and dipped around her belly button, Hanna's grip tightened on the headboard.

"God, Caleb…" she muttered, a familiar tingling sensation building in her body.

He stopped mid-movement to finally rid himself of his boxers, then stretched out again until his body covered hers. Hanna gasped at the heat emanating from him, her eyes flying open and searching his. She grinned and squirmed underneath him, feeling his hardness pressing against her inner thigh. She took him into her hands and gently stroked over the tip of his length before opening her legs for him.

"Remind me… to… aaaah… wake you up… like this… more often…" he managed to rasp against her cleavage as he trailed kisses all over it.

Caleb thrust his hips forward and entered her, gasping at her heat and wetness. Unable to stop, he slid completely into her, feeling her muscles clench around him. He groaned at the sensation of utter completeness that came over him, and laid his head against her shoulder.

Hanna released her grip on the headboard and brought her hands to his neck, feeling his pulse jump at her touch. She wrapped her legs around his waist.

"God… Hanna…" Caleb moaned. His hands curved around her backside, firmly kneading the soft flesh of her butt.

She whimpered, her inner muscles clenching in response to Caleb's thrusts which were now coming faster and faster. The sensations and feelings overwhelmed them both. All that either of them could think about was creating complete pleasure for the other.

Then, before she could tumble over the edge completely, he turned them over and pulled her over him. Her eyes still closed, she straddled his hips. For a moment, she held herself up, just brushing his tip across her nub. His eyes wandered up along her belly, over her breasts, to the face he adored.

When her eyes opened and her gaze met his, he moved his tip back to her opening and slipped inside of her. And then, pushing all sweetness and patience aside, she thrust down hard on him, sheathing him deep within herself. Urgency overtook him, and he thrust up hard against her, steadying her legs with his hands as he bucked under her. After just a few strokes, he emptied himself into her, crying out loudly as his orgasm hit. The sudden convulsing and tightness surrounding him gave away the fact that she was about to climax, too. And then she let out a high-pitched scream that seemed forever stuck on the E in his name as she climaxed, her liquid heat gushing around his length.

He felt Hanna let her head fall backwards and he brought his forward, resting his forehead against her chest. He lightly kissed the valley between her breasts before he heard her chuckle softly.

"Lost yourself for a moment there, didn't you?" he asked with a hint of amusement.

"No, I think I found myself." She said with barely disguised reverence. As she collapsed onto his chest and then eased over to snuggle against his side, she listened to his breathing slowly returning to normal.

Then, he opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Wow, I should really pinch you more often."

"Yeah," she breathed back tersely, her momentarily fogged up brain struggling to come up with any more words.

At no time, in any fantasy that she'd had within the past couple of months, had she imagined how good it would feel to completely let go again; to be out of control, to have the world fade away as every inch of her body focused on showing her love for Caleb and receiving it back from him in magnified form.

"Caleb?"

"Yes, babe?"

"Pinch me again."

"Why?"

"Because I still think I must be dreaming."

 **THE** **END**

 **XXXXX**

Final author's notes:

 _This is it. I finished my first multi-chapter story, and it has been SO MUCH fun! Thanks to everyone who stuck with it until this very last chapter. Thank you for all the kind words about the story either here on or on Twitter. I felt so happy after each and every one of it. Stay tuned for more stories..._

 _Thank you Jenna for beta'ing; you're amazing!_

 _Thank you to my girls Jane, Kat, Katey, Marion and Sam for motivating me! You're all amazing, too!_

 _I would love to read your final thoughts about this story. So don't be shy and drop me a line!_ _Zip_


	15. Chapter 15 - EPILOGUE ten weeks later

**~ BONUS CHAPTER ~**

 _Surprise! Now that the show has ended and the tears are slowly subsiding (will they ever?), I decided to end this story a little further down the road and totally off-canon. Who says I can't have a little fun with my babies and go out with a bang? *devilish grin*_

 _That said, this story is set some time after 7x19 but there is no one-year time jump and lastly, 7x20 never happened!_

 _Please note that this chapter hasn't been proofread by a beta reader. Heck, Jenna deserves a break to continue writing her own stuff once in a while. :D If you find grammar or spelling mistakes, please forgive me. English is only my second language._

 **XXXXX**

 **Chapter 15 – EPILOGUE, ten weeks later**

Hanna had been sitting on the floor of her bedroom for the past half hour, thinking about the direction her life had taken. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it.

Two months and a half ago, she and her friends had somehow won the board game that A.D. had been playing with them for weeks. There was no relief whatsoever the moment the game turned off its own battery-operated system as it had all happened without any of them knowing _who_ had been playing with them.

They had finally learned about their latest tormentor when the five girls had shown up at the _Lost Woods Resort_ to take stock and make plans for renovating the whole complex after Mary Drake had given it to Spencer and Alison as a present.

They were shocked to find out that their enemy had been waiting there for them, and for the first time, Alison's perpetual trips to the bathroom due to her pregnancy nausea had come in handy when she had heard the girls' screams from afar and instantly called 911.

Spencer was now coping with the fact that she had not only gained a new family member when she had learned about her biological mother, but also that there existed a twin sister named Alex. This twin sister had been dealing with neglect issues her whole life, leading to her going after Spencer and her friends.

But Alex Drake – A.D. – was no longer existing in this world. Officer Maple had shot her during a gun fight at the _Lost Woods_. The girls, however, were far from feeling relieved. Save for the five years after their final prom, their high school experience had been more shaped by that anonymous stalker A. than by studying. They had gotten rid of two different A.'s then, and now they had gotten rid of A.D. But was the whole ordeal truly over now?

Hanna wanted to believe it so badly, wanted to go on with her life. She hadn't been able to believe her luck that Mary Drake had taken the blame for killing Alison's ex-husband. She was no longer in danger of spending the remainder of her life in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Hanna was a free woman now.

And she was a married woman now. There was no doubt about that, judging by the sparkly diamond ring that was now gracing the fourth finger of her left hand.

Three weeks ago, Caleb had surprised her with it during their vow renewal. It had all happened so fast; all the girls had helped put together an impromptu second ceremony for them which had felt like a perfect mix of an elopement and a big wedding celebration.

Hanna had been in for another surprise when Caleb presented her with tickets and hotel vouchers for a three-week honeymoon on the island of Aruba. She had never been to the Caribbean Sea before and had therefore been so excited to go there on vacation – though Caleb had made it clear that he wasn't planning on doing much of sightseeing with her.

And so they had spent the last three weeks in paradise with their phones turned off and their minds free to finally reconnect properly.

 **XXXXX**

Hanna felt sentimental. She was back in Rosewood again, back in her everyday life, and it was the middle of winter. In her mind, she wanted to cuddle up under a blanket and reminisce the good times that she'd had with Caleb during their honeymoon. But her everyday life longed for her to deal with more important issues, like where her life was headed now, professionally speaking. Caleb was doing well at the moment as he was in the middle of a major business deal with Lucas that could give them a little more room financially to explore their options. Caleb's former boss Mitch had been invited to the reception dinner, and he had once again told Caleb that he still wanted him to run one of his IT departments in either Washington, D.C. or New York. Now that her design business in Rosewood wasn't going to happen, Hanna was basically free to do whatever and go wherever she wanted.

But where was that exactly?

This morning, life had dealt them a new deck of cards.

Caleb had left their apartment earlier to help out his friend who had locked himself out. He had called later to tell her that he would stay at work and run some final tests with his decoding software before the meeting with Lucas. Hanna had gone out later to get something for breakfast at _The_ _Brew_ and run some errands before going back home again.

Now, a stash of papers lay in her lap, things to mull over alone first. Hanna thumbed through the printouts of various real estate listings, making pro and con lists in her mind for some houses that were up for sale in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Also, lastly, Lucas had made them an offer to buy the loft.

There was no way, she could make a final decision all by herself even though Caleb had already told her he would go wherever Hanna wanted to go. But now… Sighing, Hanna leant back against the bed, resting her head on the covers to look up at the ceiling.

For some reason, she needed to feel closer to him now. She knew there was no sense in trying to call him today as he would be stuck in a bunker without a signal somewhere outside of Rosewood until late in the afternoon.

 _Caleb_.

She sighed, missing him already. He had only been at work for a couple of hours but she missed having him around. She had gotten so used to always having him at close proximity for three whole weeks that it was hard for her to be alone in their apartment at this very moment.

Suddenly, Hanna had an idea. She stood up looking around the room. Then she bent down to reach inside the drawer of her night table. She picked up some things she had stored in there and carefully composed them on the floor right by her closet.

At least she would have some time for herself now that she needed to go through her box one more time. She had collected quite a few things lately that she wanted to add.

Ever since Hanna had put the card from the first flower bouquet that Caleb had given to her after getting back together into her box, it had been hiding again, buried under a stack of shoe boxes deep inside of Hanna's huge closet. There had hardly been any time to look at the things, much less add new stuff, during the weeks the girls had been tormented by A.D.'s board game.

Though everything else in her life seemed to be going down at the time, there had been one reliable factor: the love between her and Caleb was as strong as ever. Once he had found out about the game, he had constantly tried to help them out even if that had sent him to the emergency room with a case of suspected poisoning. She had dropped everything to rush to the hospital in order to be there for him.

That was when it became crystal clear to her: Caleb would forever be her number one priority. And when he had suggested that they elope, there was not a single doubt in her heart that this was what she wanted, too. She had wanted it all along; had secretly hoped for a proposal back in the days when they were living together in New York happily. And if she was being honest with herself, there had always been those teenage fantasies she'd had of a wedding with Caleb that would someday for sure happen.

Right now, she wished there was a possibility to store away every second of every memory she had of the sweet moment when Caleb had recited his vows to her. There was video proof of the vow renewal, but no camera could ever capture the look in his eyes when the words had come tumbling from his mouth. He hadn't even felt the need to make notes in advance as she had noticed when Pastor Ted had asked Caleb to pledge his love for Hanna.

She opened her closet. More than twenty shoe boxes had to be lifted from their crammed space until she could retrieve her Caleb memory box from the bottom of the closet. Her fingers traced the edges of a photograph of the two of them which had been glued to its lid. The picture was now more than seven years old and it brought Hanna to the brink of tears. Marrying the love of her life, her high school sweetheart… How did she ever get to be so lucky?

She placed the box in her lap and opened the lid. One by one, she took all the items that were in it into her hand, evaluating its meaning and taking a moment to reminisce before putting it aside.

There was that beanie hat that she had saved from goodwill, the kill switch from Aria's mother's car that had almost led to their first date had Caleb been granted his wish from Hanna as redemption for helping her out before. Then she pulled out lots of paper memorabilia like ticket stubs from the movies, birthday cards, a strip of black-and-white photos from a photo booth at _The Smith_ that they had taken after they had signed the lease for their apartment in the East Village.

But there were rather bulky things in the box as well, like Caleb's Romeo mask from the Masquerade Ball, the name tag Hanna had worn when she had visited Mona at the Radley Sanatorium using the last name Rivers. She had left the institution completely shaken and had thus forgotten to return it. Then there was the small bag that contained a piece of burned wood from a campfire that had been burning during her first time with Caleb.

When her eyes caught sight of Caleb's old phone again, Hanna didn't hesitate. She instantly grabbed the piece of plastic and got up on her feet. Then she walked all the way to their kitchen cabinets and without so much as looking at it one last time, she tossed the phone in the trash can underneath the sink and slowly closed the door of the cabinet, lost in thought for a second. No, there was no way she was going to keep this phone any longer amongst her happiest memories. For sure, there were no more hard feelings about it, but ultimately, it had brought her so much pain that she questioned why she had even kept it in the first place. Hearing Caleb's voicemail had been some kind of redemption for everything she had gone through in the wake of his sudden departure. But it could never beat hearing his real voice say sweet things into her ear, and she could have that now for the rest of her life.

Squatting down in front of her box again, she saw that she had reached the bottom of the box. A small magazine clipping had been the very first item that had found its way into the box and right to the plethora of memories she desperately wanted to keep as a sign from the gods that what she had with Caleb was truly meant to be. Hanna removed the piece of paper from the bottom of the box and looked at it. She hadn't set her eyes on this particular item in a very long time. Somehow it had always remained inside the box as it was barely noticeable. In her hands there was a horoscope snippet for the week of November 1st until November 7th, 2010. Hanna had cut it from a teen magazine, whose title she had long forgotten, the night after her camping trip with Caleb.

Reading the snippet again now, it conjured up a huge smile on her face. The horoscope read:

" _Hey Pisces Girl – Feel that? That's Pluto hanging out in Pisces – astro-speak for lighting up your love life! If you want to be in a relationship, that can easily happen this year, especially the first week of November. Just one type to watch out for: overbearing duds who drain your energy. Take the time and get to know someone before committing to a relationship, you deserve a guy who makes you feel desired and unstoppable. And it won't be a random make-out partner – this person is the real deal!"_

She looked at the few things she now wanted to add to her Caleb memorabilia, like the cigar bands they had slipped on each other's ring fingers on the day of their makeshift engagement, and a dehydrated petal from her bridal bouquet that her mother had arranged for her first wedding in front of the Justice of the Peace.

Smiling, she took the next item into her hands. It was the keycard of their honeymoon suite which they had _accidentally lost_ on the way from their room to the small terrace outside where all meals were served. With all these wicker armchairs and lounge sofas standing there, things were bound to get lost in cracks and gaps… weren't they?

Lastly, there was only one more item laying on the floor beside her legs. Apart from the keycard, it was another piece that would always and forever remind her of the three weeks that they had spent in unadulterated bliss, celebrating fate which had brought them together such a long time ago, and which had now united them as husband and wife.

Hanna's eyes turned all watery with happy tears at the thought of one particular day spent on Aruba's Baby Beach where Caleb had booked the honeymoon suite of a luxurious hotel close by.

 **XXXXX**

 ** _February 11, 2018 ~ a beach somewhere in the south of Aruba_**

 _Hanna and Caleb were sitting together on a sun lounger, one behind the other, relaxing and watching the people around them._

" _Come on, Hanna. Mr. Muscles. I was watching him." Caleb scoffed at Hanna after another attractive dude had walked past them. In Caleb's mind he had walked by undressing Hanna with his eyes – something he wasn't going to sweep under the mat just like that._

" _What about him?" Hanna said, somewhat defensively._

" _He was hitting on you," he explained, but not without a slightly amused undertone in his voice._

" _Was not," she said, but she sounded a touch guilty. Caleb smiled and settled his chin familiarly into the dip of her shoulder, where it fitted comfortably enough to have had him wondering in the past if it had been tailor made for this purpose._

" _Was too. Don't pretend you didn't notice. I mean," he added as she shifted uncomfortably, "look at it from my point of view." He traced a path of small caresses along the side of her throat and then breathed huskily in her ear, "Here I am with my incredibly sexy wife…" She smiled slightly. "You've had the eyes of every guy within a mile radius on you since you stepped into that pool wearing this on our very first day here."_

 _His eyes traveled over her body, adoring once more her turquoise bikini that hugged her breasts and hips like a second skin. He tugged at its spaghetti strap briefly in emphasis._

" _That's not true," Hanna said, but she suddenly looked very pleased with herself._

" _I've been the envy of every single one of them," Caleb concluded with a dramatic, soulful sigh as he returned his chin to its perch._

 _Hanna sniffed but it sounded rather half-hearted. Caleb smiled as he set his lips to the satin skin of her shoulder, inhaling her 'vacation scent', the mixture of sunscreen and Mojito breath. She chuckled._

 _Caleb came out of his reverie with a frown. "What's so funny?"_

" _You. The thought of you being all protective and jealous while at the same time secretly enjoying the whole scenario."_

" _I am not!"_

" _Are too."_

" _Am not!" He insisted indignantly and Hanna turned her head to glare at him. They smiled at each other before his arms tightened, holding her steady against his solid chest, unawares emphasizing her point._

 _Feeling too hot to raise the energy needed to keep up her teasing act, Hanna decided to content herself with not having had the last word for once._

 _Caleb, having made his point, only smiled lazily._

" _Aren't you supposed to be doing something with that lotion?" Hanna demanded testily._

" _I can think of lots of things to do with this lotion," he answered, planting a rough kiss at the base of her right ear and moving his head to set another one beneath the left._

" _Caleb…!"_

 _He grinned at the exasperation in her voice and faked a put upon sigh. "Okay," he conceded. "It's a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it."_

 _He reached for the bottle of sunscreen and straightened behind her. Loading up with the creamy lotion, he set the bottle aside and took hold of her shoulders, flexing his fingers strongly against her skin._

 _After a moment, Hanna took the bottle and emptied a little dab of lotion into her hands. She began to apply it to her upper chest area with soft strokes of her fingertips._

 _The hands at her shoulders stopped their ministrations. Hanna sighed and tipped her head back onto the shoulder behind her, a move which arched her back and thrust her breasts pertly upwards, giving her husband a long and lengthy view to where her fingers were dipping lower to apply lotion to the swell of flesh just above the line of turquoise cotton._

" _Hey," Caleb protested, somewhat hoarsely, as he reached for the offending hand and tugged it clear. "Stop spoiling the perks of this job."_

 _She grinned as he took over the task and settled back with a small sigh of contentment. She closed her eyes, savoring the light strokes of his fingers against her skin as he massaged the lotion into the tops of her breasts, applying himself to the chore diligently._

 _The heat of the sun overhead and the soothing, caressing circles being traced on her skin let her drift. Her thoughts began to wistfully consider how those stroking fingers would feel against her skin if they moved just a little lower when she came to with a start, confused as she felt Caleb's hands slide between the cotton lining of her top and her skin to lightly cradle her breasts. He squeezed gently as his breath flooded warmth against her neck. He kissed her jaw softly and dipped his head lower to stroke the sensitive skin in the hollow of her shoulder._

 _Her muzziness swiftly leaving her, Hanna squirmed slightly and raised her head to scan the area around them. She must have been asleep at least a time because the sun had shifted subtly overhead and the beach was deserted. A cooling breeze had begun to flutter in the sunshades along the waterfront._

" _Caleb?" Came her concerned voice as she realized what he was doing._

" _Hmmmmm?" Caleb hummed, kind of absentmindedly._

" _Baby?"_

" _It's okay," he murmured into her ear, accurately sensing the cause of her concern. "We're on our own. They called dinner ten minutes ago. Everyone else went inside." His hands continued to knead her breasts fitted into his palms and his thumbs skimmed across her nipples, bringing them into sudden, taut life._

 _Hanna leaned back again and allowed herself to relax against his chest._

" _And I guess you want to get inside, too," she murmured wickedly._

" _Oh yeah," Caleb agreed, tightening his grip and then removing his hands. He ignored her soft protest as he let them smooth a path across her shoulders, drawing the thin straps of the bikini with them until they dangled loose against her upper arms. He used the grip on her arms to turn her around to face him. He was straddling the lounger now. He positioned her between his legs, his knees pressing firmly against her thighs as she settled back on her heels._

 _Hanna reached out to ease the sunglasses from his face, discarding them on the small table between the loungers and then directed a sultry smile up into the warm hazel eyes gazing down at her. She watched interestedly as he bent his head to press his lips to her cleavage. He let them trail downwards with tantalizing slowness, bathing her oily skin with feathered caresses until he reached cotton. He nudged the edge of her top downwards with his chin and followed it with his mouth._

 _Her eyes dilated, her breath rising in her throat as watching him pleasure both himself and her in his lazy exploration began to settle a heavy, liquid warmth deep in her belly. "You know…" she observed, slightly huskily, "I've noticed…" she paused, breath catching hard as his teeth closed over one taut nipple and squeezed delicately and her words deserting her. She moaned quietly, closing her eyes as her hands lifted to his shoulders and began to play across the bunching muscles._

 _Caleb's soft, enticing tugging at the center of her breast paused finally and he released her, letting the tip of his tongue dart out to play briefly against her reddened skin before he murmured absently, "You noticed…?"_

" _Mmmmhh. What?"_

 _Hanna roused herself with a frown, opening her eyes to look down at him, and lifted one hand from his shoulder to place it on the back of his head, firmly pressing it back down against the breast he'd just abandoned._

" _You noticed," he prompted again as he obeyed that silent command and went back to teasing at her nipple with short, vigorous little nips of his teeth._

" _Huh… oh… yes, yes, I noticed… aaaah..." She shuddered, her eyes opening momentarily wide and then dropped her head, losing her train of thought again as she followed his movements against her breast with fascination and some awe. What had she been saying? Oh yes, "Yes, I noticed that there seem to be… there… there… certain… certain areas you cover more than most. In this lotioning thing," she added after a breathy pause._

 _She felt him smile against her skin, even as she saw the tips of his mouth crinkle upwards around the dark bud he was nuzzling. "Well, your husband likes to be thorough." The tip of his tongue proved his point by dipping out suddenly to flick across the hard, aching tip of her breast and Hanna jerked slightly, closing her eyes again as her head fell back, her lips parting and her breath reduced to quick, shallow gasps._

 _Caleb rose up onto his knees to place a kiss in the center of her throat and then fastened his mouth on hers in a vigorous melding of their lips. His tongue pushed into the hot, moist cavity of her mouth, dipping into all the hollows and ridges that he already knew so well. He felt her sigh fill his own mouth warmly as her tongue tangled with his and conducted its own, eager exploration. His hands played with her breasts, his fingers enclosing her nipples, rolling and pinching and then soothing them with soft fluttering touches as he responded to her quick, muted cries of pleasure and encouragement._

 _Then he tore his mouth from hers. Hanna followed his movement in a blind quest to recover his lips before she realized that he had drawn away from her. She opened her eyes, blinking hazily and then focused on him with a frown. A frown that cleared as she caught on to why he had stopped his ministrations on her._

 _He glanced at her and motioned his head toward the palm-shrouded entrance of the hotel complex._

 _An elderly couple emerged, arm in arm and engaged in animated conversation. Hanna couldn't resist a downward glance at herself and was relieved to note that everything was in place and as it should be._

 _There were only a few yards separating them from the couple now as they began to walk towards them before turning onto the winding path that would take them down into the nearby village. The elderly man put a hand against his wife's elbow, steering her to the path edge and away from its slightly uneven center. Hanna smiled at his attentiveness._

 _Her own, adoring other half turned her gently into the encircling support of his arm and engaged her lips with his own in a caress that was passionate, but more sedate than the one they had been sharing a moment earlier._

" _Maybe we could find us a spot a little less in plain view," he murmured huskily when their lips parted, shifting slightly to brush his light stubble against her cheek_ _. "Let's_ _check the dunes over there." He pointed to a stretch of land further south on the beach_.

" _Oh." Hanna breathed back at him from her position laid back against his arm, suddenly aroused by the idea they were about to break the law._

 _The very air between them seemed suddenly charged, like the taste of ozone before a summer storm, and, looking up tentatively into Caleb's eyes, she saw that he was aware of that sea change too._

 _He shifted, imperceptibly, a move that brought them into contact in a hundred different places and Hanna, aware of every one, stifled a low moan as she felt that connection sear her._

 _At that moment, she couldn't have cared less if the entire New York Knicks basketball team had come spilling out of the hotel, knowing she would surrender to him in a heartbeat, no matter where or how he chose to take her._

 _A slow smile began to form on Caleb's face as though he was well aware of her thoughts. It dizzied her, seeing that stark, almost feral reflection of her own lust and desire transfigured in his eyes._

 _He got up from his lounger, gently pulling her up, too. They grabbed their towels and started strolling through the sand, both keeping an eye out to find a more secluded spot between rocks and dunes separating the even stretch of fine white sandy beach from the boondocks._

 _They didn't have to walk far as they soon reached a wooden, weather-worn sign on a pole, prohibiting trespassing of a natural reserve for waterbirds during hatching season. Protected from view behind an assemblage of boulders, Hanna and Caleb unfurled their towels in the soft sand before plunking themselves down on them. Wasting no time, they stretched out and Caleb propped himself up on his elbow to let his hands take the tactually scenic tour of her body._

 _His fingers reached her hip and he let them play idly against her bikini panties. One finger followed the line where cotton and smooth skin met before he pushed it down and under to caress her hip bone and the beginnings of her rounded butt._

 _Hanna squirmed slightly and placed her hands on his tan, well-defined chest, drawing the warmth from his skin into her fingers as she slid them in light circles across his muscles. "That tickles." She suddenly shrieked when Caleb had obviously reached a more sensitive spot on her skin._

 _He smiled but didn't stop, though he did shift direction slightly, which made her squirm more. And not specifically because it tickled, Caleb thought with a grin._

" _We are so going to get busted." Hanna gasped out, desperately trying to keep her mind from the slow, meandering path his finger was taking as it stroked seductively back and forth, up and down the crease of her thigh. Now and then it would brush lightly against the edge of her folds, just out of its reach and she would still, holding her breath, until it continued its stroking route._

" _Hmmmm?" Caleb had been watching the movements of his fingers beneath the cotton and had only half listened to what she had said. Now he looked up and Hanna caught her breath again at the look of smoldering desire filling his warm brown eyes. "We're gonna get caught," she told him._

" _No, we're not. Not if we make it quick." He grinned at her mischievously._

 _Hanna barely heard the words as his fingers traveled southwards._

 _Suddenly, Caleb raised his other hand to cup her cheek as he watched that heat flare in her eyes. "You're easily the most beautiful woman on this island," he murmured, rubbing a slow, seductive thumb across her lips and continuing to graze the tips of his fingers over her folds._

" _Oh, I don't know," Hanna laughed somewhat shakily. She swallowed roughly through the sudden constriction in her throat and the inexplicable rise of tears in her eyes. She blinked them back savagely. "Well, there's that topless beach on the east side." She suggested vaguely._

 _Caleb let a flicker of a smile lighten the fierce need clenched in his face as he argued. "Some women don't have to advertise." His mouth finally did what her eyes had been begging it to and closed passionately over her own._

 _Hanna felt herself drowning, dissolving into a backwash of sensation and heat and desire as his tongue wound itself into her mouth, gently at first but then with fervor._

 _She let her own hands reach for his trunks, feeling for the prominent bulge she knew had to be there already, sensing his state of need by the way he pressed his upper body down against hers. Caleb inched closer, making her efforts to feel for his arousal seem futile as she could feel him now, right there grinding himself against her thigh._

 _His hand rose to cup her breast, pushing the turquoise barrier aside. Her body molded itself to his exploring hands, to his slightest touch, wherever he made the sensual contact._

 _Caleb's lips were traveling again, following the drumming beat of her heart up along the tendons of her throat and for a split second, thoughts of privacy began to brighten in her_ _head before conscious thought eventually left her._

" _C-Caleb…" she gasped and he shifted, lips trailing heat across her brow and cheek, against her temple as he moved to lie on top of her, trapping her beneath his body. Still supporting his weight on his elbows, he brought up his hands to frame her face tight as he planted a line of those hot, open-mouthed kisses on her forehead and the tip of her nose._

 _The glow in her eyes seared him. "You know if you'd rather leave and go to our room...," he said, the words emerging from deep in his chest, thick with passion and barely more than a breathless growl._

" _I want to sleep with you, here and now." Came her husky response as she moved her arms around his waist, fumbling to remove his swim trunks._

 _He tugged her towards his lips, kissed her quickly, fiercely, as though he couldn't long stay away from their glistening lure and then raised his head again, "You sure?"_

 _She nodded her head faintly against the hands holding her firm, but Caleb seemed either disinterested in her response or to have forgotten the question because he was kissing her again and his hands slipped down to her throat, and then to her shoulders. Entwined, they rolled onto their sides, and Caleb's free arm eased its way quickly along her shoulder blades and down her spine until his exploring hand splayed itself against her bottom._

 _Using it as leverage, he pushed her upward as he rolled them over until Hanna lay atop of him. He effortlessly managed to open the clasp of her bikini top with one hand while pushing her head down against his with the other. He let go of her hair so that Hanna could push herself up which allowed for her bikini to fall from her shoulders._

 _Caleb instantly raised his head to close his mouth over her puckering nipples._

 _Hanna cried piteously into his mouth, her hips circling frantically against his touch as he clenched his fingers gently around her butt cheeks beneath the fabric of her panties._

 _Next, Caleb gently rolled them over again until Hanna came lying flat on her back again. If they were about to have sex in public, he wanted to make sure that should they get busted, it would be because of his naked body moving on prohibited ground in plain view, not hers._

 _Before long, he shifted to straddle her, allowing himself a short moment to take in the beauty of her nude torso._

 _Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself yet again that the woman beneath him was now his to look at for the rest of his life… The only woman he could ever imagine growing old with._

 _He placed his hands on her chest, the way she had done it a million times before when she was in control. He felt her stiff peaks rub against his palms… felt her heart beating fast against her ribcage… he saw her glazed eyes looking up at him full of anticipation… saw her slightly parted lips. And by the way her breathing came labored and at increasing speed, he knew she was ready._

 _Hanna had the dim impression of time moving, of air stirring in the grasses and shrubs around them, of voices, muted by distance and barely heard and Caleb's lips on her skin as her world narrowed until there was nothing but the sound of her own heart thundering in her ears and above it the steady, storming beat of his._

 _And then Caleb grunted sharply as he lowered his body closer to her. He planted his hands on the towel, on either side of her shoulders. Supporting himself on his arms, he eased himself slightly clear of her, breathing laboredly, chest heaving as he stared down into her face._

 _She remained still for a moment, eyes closed, chin tilted upward, lips softly parted, glistening slickly in the faint light of the sunset. With a hand that trembled slightly, Caleb grazed his thumb across their swollen surface. Her eyelids fluttered open again to check why he was hesitating._

" _Hanna…" he said softly, his dark eyes shining down on her full of love._

 _She wrapped her arms around his neck delightedly as she felt his weight trap her, pushing her down deep into the malleable surface. She drew his face down to where she could dart quick, passionate kisses across its handsome features._

 _Her hands raked downward across his spine, skimmed across the hollow of his back, feeling the muscles bunch and flex strongly beneath her fingers until she found her way to the line of his cotton trunks. She pushed the swimwear down off of his taut buttocks and onto his thighs._

 _Caleb rolled from her and onto his side, panting harshly as he stripped off the restricting piece of clothing with a few swift movements. The pulsing length of his erection sprang free, and Hanna immediately reached for it to pump up and down._

 _Their mouths clasped and unclasped as they traded quick, restless breaths._

 _Caleb groaned as his hips rose, without conscious thought, pushing his length hard against the damp patch of cotton between her legs, rubbing and stroking against her heated core as they rocked in a slow, erotic dance, their rhythm picked up and driven by the drumming, overlapping beat of their hearts._

 _Hanna closed her eyes, moaning softly, and opened them as she felt his hand dip below the fabric of her panties, shoving it aside before he placed the tip of his penis at her entrance, waiting for a sign from her that she was really ready to do this. A single word, a single gesture of disapproval and he would have stopped and hastily grabbed her by the hand to run back to their hotel room at a record speed._

 _When all she did was moan and whimper at the feeling of his erection rubbing against her most sensitive area, Caleb entered her in one swift movement._

 _She was spreading herself wide as his fingers gripped her thighs and pushed them apart. He raised himself slightly, looming over her, blocking out the remaining orange light of the sun that flared at the horizon and then he was sheathing himself deep inside her, filling her almost to the hilt._

 _She was hot and welcoming. She arched her back deeply, her thighs gripping his in a tight pinch as he slid deeper inside of her._

 _A sharp, mewling rose from Hanna's throat as he kept thrusting in and pulling out of her, expertly and knowingly changing angle and pace as to hit just the right spots to drive her crazy, yet doing it so rapidly that she was kept on the rising cusp of her desire, never allowed to struggle over its edge until her gasps for breath came frantic._

 _She shuddered and wriggled, forcing herself against him, clutching him deeper within as she wrapped her long legs around his waist. Caleb began a hard, strong rhythm, thrusting and withdrawing, burying himself in her as all conscious thought left him._

 _Hanna cried out sharply, her hands moving restlessly against his shoulders as her hips bucked upwards to meet the vigorous strokes that slammed her back, over and over, into the soft sand beneath her._

 _The sensuous, circling movements of her hips spurred Caleb on, his thrusts becoming rougher as he instinctively sensed her frustration and need, her desire for something more than a gentle pleasuring of her body._

 _Caleb felt a familiar tingling at the base of his spine and in that instant, his thoughts completely focused on the feel of Hanna moving against and around him. A few seconds later, all those sensations seemed to converge into a single area of contact and, with a series of loud groans, he emptied himself into her._

 _When she became aware of the world again she opened her eyes to find the sun was sinking rapidly now and the air growing slightly chill on her heated skin. Her hands drifted lazily through the soft silk of Caleb's hair._

 _He was laying sprawled in spent abandon against her breasts and between her thighs, his face buried loose in the curve of her shoulder. His breathing was light and steady, his heart a sated, even beat and she might have thought he'd drifted into sleep if he hadn't moved suddenly to nuzzle lightly at her throat._

" _It's getting cold," he said, rubbing the tip of his nose affectionately along her jawline and then planting a solemn kiss against her cheek. "We should go back inside. Aren't you hungry?" he asked, hoping she'd say yes so he could feed his starving stomach something, too._

 _Hanna slipped her arms around his neck again, tightening her hold. "It'll be okay for a while."_

 _He gave in and settled onto his back in the cooling sand, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her gently onto his chest. Hanna settled herself in her favorite position, molding herself to his side and entwining her legs in his. Their contented sighs sounded in the stillness that covered them like a blanket._

 _They lay there for a few more minutes, fingers exploring lazy paths across a hip, a thigh, tracing languid circles against chest or arm, as the wind kept breezing through the shrubs surrounding them._

 _When the deep red of the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, Caleb scrambled to get up and put his swim trunks back on. He helped her put her bikini top back on while she was trying to wipe off the crust of sand on her arms that the fresh layer of sunscreen had caused earlier._

 _Arm in arm, they walked back to the hotel and up to their honeymoon suite, where they both disappeared inside the shower large enough for two people in love, washing residue of lotion and sand off their skin with a slightly guilty conscience on their minds…_

 **XXXXX**

A sigh slipped from Hanna's lips at the memory of that steamy adventure. It had been the wildest and uninhibited moment in their relationship. And now it would forever hold another meaning.

Hanna reached for the last item meant to find a temporary home inside the box: the positive pregnancy test that she had taken this morning with trembling hands after returning home from her breakfast run.

A broad smile played around her lips when she saw the two lines appear on it. She didn't even have to wait five minutes, they were there as soon as she had put the cap back on. She hadn't expected this to happen so soon but she had been wondering in the past days why she had been so emotional just about everything and why the hell the smell of coffee was suddenly causing her to gag. Above all, she hadn't gotten her period the day before.

With the help of a pregnancy tracker app she had been able to backtrack the conception date, which meant she now knew when their baby was due and that made her smile even more.

She put the stick on top of everything else in the box. It wouldn't be in there for long. Just for a couple of hours. Just until she would have gotten them their favorite take-out food and prepared some nice dinner arrangements with candles. And then she would tell Caleb that he was going to be a father.

She couldn't wait to see his reaction.

She was convinced that this time, it would be him asking her for a pinch the next morning…

* * *

 **THE END**

* * *

 ** _(And if you want to know how this all came about, head over to my new story, "Pinch me again"…) Zip_**


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